Last week, fans of AMC’s Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire got the moment they were waiting for with the arrival — albeit briefly — of Bailey Bass’ child vampire, Claudia. The character arrived when a distraught Louis (Jacob Anderson) heard her cries from inside a burning building as Storyville went up in flames and came to her aid. This week’s episode, “The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood With All A Child’s Demanding”, sees the character introduced in all of her lethal glory and in a new scene from Sunday’s episode, we get to see how the immortal child is made.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In this clip shared exclusively with ComicBook.com, Louis pleads with Lestat (Sam Reid) to turn Claudia into a vampire to be a daughter of sorts for their little family, a request that Lestat cannot refuse as he was on the verge of losing Louis before she entered their lives. And for Claudia? Well, we begin to get her perspective on life with the two “hell demons” who she decides to make the best of it with. You can check it out for yourself in the video player above.
While fans of Anne Rice’s iconic novel may notice that there are some key differences in Claudia’s origin story in the series, Bass recently told ComicBook.com that the essence of the character is there — just with a little more expression on the screen in a way that is more inclusive.
“At the end of the day, she is the same Claudia,” Bass told ComicBook.com. “She has the same essence in the book. You see this feral, powerful, strong, craving independence person, that little vampire that’s stuck in this body. The only difference is now she’s 14 and I’m Black. Anne Rice was one of the most pro-diversity, pro-LGBTQIA people, and because of that you see it translate so effortlessly in this world. All we did was just make it in 1910 and changed what the characters look like a little bit, but it just opened the door to having more expression on screen.”
Here’s the official synopsis for this week’s episode: “In his penthouse, Louis gives Molloy access to Claudia’s diaries, which offer a fresh and contemporaneous account of the creation of the young fledgling vampire and how her Vampire guardians adjust to their new family of three.”
What is Interview With the Vampire About?
A sensuous, contemporary reinvention of Anne Rice‘s revolutionary gothic novel, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson), Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), and Claudia’s (Bailey Bass) epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Chafing at the limitations of life as a Black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat de Lioncourt’s offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion. But Louis’s intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat’s newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement.
Will There be a Second Season of Interview With the Vampire?
While the first season of Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire is just getting started on AMC and AMC+, the critically acclaimed series has already been renewed for a second season, a renewal that was handed out ahead of the series’ premiere.
“The scope and breadth of this show, and what Mark and Rolin have delivered, is just stupendous,” Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios, said in a statement. “They have rendered the rich and vibrant world of Anne Rice‘s Interview in a wonderful way, and we’re incredibly proud. From the set build to production design, costumes, and more — no detail was overlooked. This stellar cast delivers powerful performances that emotionally connect us to these characters and their humanity. We look forward to sharing the final product of this extraordinary effort with audiences in just a few short days and are thrilled that this story will continue. This is only the beginning of an entire Universe featuring enthralling stories and characters that capture the spirit of Anne Rice’s amazing work.”
Interview With the Vampire airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC. You can also stream new episodes on AMC+.