The famous classic story written by Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire became widely known worldwide thanks to the 1994 film. However, in recent years, it’s the TV series that has really brought it back into the spotlight. Even though it’s still way more overlooked than it deserves, one of the biggest reasons this production has built such a loyal fanbase is the way it chose to adapt its characters into a long-form format, using multiple episodes to explore layer after layer of who they are. And even though it’s a vampire story, it stands apart from most of the genre because it puts the focus on relationships rather than horror.
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Love, dependency, manipulation, guilt, and trauma are always right at the surface, wrapped in great dialogue and consistently brilliant performances. And the best part? No one is completely a victim, and no one is completely a villain. But with that in mind, who has really carried the entire show on their back so far? Interview with the Vampire Season 3 is coming soon and is bound to change everything, but until then, here are the 7 best characters, ranked from worst to best.
7) Madeleine
It took a while for Madeleine to show up in the series, but once she did, she immediately got a surprisingly compelling arc. She only appears in Season 2, and at first, she clearly exists to serve Claudia’s storyline — mainly to highlight just how desperate the girl is for even the smallest sense of belonging. Madeleine is grounded, practical, and human in the way she thinks, which is why she ends up feeling so symbolic. Claudia isn’t looking for a mother or even a friend; she wants someone who can finally be hers, without Lestat in the middle and without Louis hovering over everything out of guilt.
And making Madeleine a human who willingly becomes a vampire because she genuinely wants to be with Claudia works extremely well. It’s also during that transformation that the show gives us a clearer sense of who Madeleine is and what her life has been like. Still, in a ranking like this, it’s hard to place her any higher because she simply doesn’t get enough room to become a true force within the show. Her impact is real (especially emotionally), but it’s ultimately short-lived.
6) Santiago
So far, the biggest villain in Interview with the Vampire, Santiago, is basically proof that the Théâtre des Vampires was never just a fun gothic aesthetic, as humans believed — it was a full-on trap. He’s got presence, he’s got irony, he’s got venom in the way he speaks, and most of all, he carries that energy of someone who really enjoys other people’s misery. And he’s the kind of antagonist who doesn’t need to yell or physically dominate anyone, because he controls the room through pure sarcasm and superiority alone.
The show also benefits massively from that, because Santiago becomes the perfect fuel for Season 2’s paranoid atmosphere, right up until he ends up dying at the hands of a vengeful Louis. Still, as entertaining as he is to watch, he’s also a pretty straightforward character. Santiago is the vampire who wants power, a stage, and control, which makes him great for tension and threat-building, but he doesn’t carry the same emotional weight as the show’s more layered characters. He’s a memorable villain, but he’s just not the one holding the heart of the series together.
5) Daniel
For a lot of fans, there’s something truly special about Daniel, because he’s one of the best changes this adaptation has made, since he’s not just some guy sitting there listening to a story. He’s active, so he pushes back, interrupts, calls people out, catches contradictions on the spot, and asks the exact questions any viewer would ask — all while having zero patience for the vampires’ constant existential drama. The show could’ve turned into two full seasons of Louis speaking beautifully about suffering, but Daniel doesn’t let it. Not that the romanticism isn’t part of the appeal, but sometimes you need that contrast to make the conversation feel messier and more real.
On top of that, his dynamic with Armand is a major bonus. Still, as essential as he is, Daniel remains the human anchor of the story, and the series obviously thrives even more on the chaos the vampires bring (although now that he’s been turned, he could climb higher in the ranking because of that). Either way, he’s basically the character who turns the entire narrative into a psychological thriller about memory and manipulation. Without him, the show might look prettier, but it would be a lot less interesting.
4) Armand
Armand is probably the most complex character in Interview with the Vampire, since it’s hard to figure out what he actually feels, what he wants, and where he really stands on anything. He’s a huge problem, but if you try to see things from his perspective, the villain image people build around him starts to feel a little less clear-cut (it really depends on the angle). What makes him one of the best characters is that he doesn’t seem dangerous at first. He isn’t chaotic, and he’s definitely not explosive. He’s calm, and in this universe, calm is almost always a warning sign that someone is hiding an entire arsenal underneath the surface.
So “fascinating” is the best word to describe Armand, but he’s also the most calculated character on the show, and that creates a certain distance. You never believe he’s being honest, not even when he seems vulnerable, but at the same time, that’s exactly why he works so well. He’s not a character who just wants love; he wants emotional control along with it, and while that’s obviously dangerous, it’s also weirdly compelling to watch. So far, we’ve only gotten glimpses of his past, but Season 3 might give us more insight and completely shift his place in this ranking.
3) Louis
Louis is the backbone of the series, but what makes him interesting isn’t his suffering, but the fact that he’s a narrator who’s trying to convince himself of certain things. He wants to come off as moral, he wants to sound rational, and he wants to frame himself as the victim more than he’ll ever admit. And as the story goes on, it becomes obvious that he isn’t just recounting the past, but trying to negotiate with it: Louis chooses what to say, what to soften, and what to turn into something poetic just to avoid facing his own responsibility head-on.
And all of that, paired with how much he externalizes everything, makes him feel very different from Rice’s original version — but that’s exactly why he earns this spot. But why doesn’t he rank higher, considering he’s basically the protagonist of the first two seasons? Even with all that narrative weight, Louis isn’t always the most “alive” presence on screen. He’s introspective, restrained, emotionally locked up, and when you place him next to the two characters above him, who are basically pure energy, Louis naturally feels like he fades a little in comparison.
2) Lestat
No exaggeration, Lestat is a character who instantly changes the temperature of an episode the second he shows up. He’s funny, cruel, charismatic, pathetic, romantic, monstrous, and sometimes he’s all of that in the same scene. And the best part is that Interview with the Vampire never feels the need to over-explain that chaos, because Lestat is the type of vampire who doesn’t apologize for existing. He’s not ashamed of his hunger, he’s not ashamed of his desires, and he definitely isn’t ashamed of the twisted, obsessive love he has for Louis. He’s the kind of character who can do something very horrible and still have enough charisma to keep you completely hooked.
Right now, he hasn’t had quite enough narrative weight to claim the top spot, but that could change with Season 3, which is expected to put him at the center of everything. But so far, what we’ve gotten is a character who dominates mostly through sheer presence. However, he’s still iconic and always steals the spotlight because the show knows how to use him as both charm and threat at the same time. He’s undeniably a fan favorite.
1) Claudia
From the very first moment Claudia showed up in the series, she made an impact. And so far, no one has managed to top her for one main reason: she’s the only one who understands how unfair and absurd vampire life is, and she refuses to accept it quietly. She doesn’t romanticize anything, and she definitely doesn’t buy into the whole “eternal family” fantasy. She looks at Louis and sees a man trapped in guilt, just like she looks at Lestat and sees a predator disguised as a lover — all while being stuck in a young body forever, which makes her entire existence feel like a cruel joke.
Even after her death, she still carries a huge weight in the story and in the arcs of every major vampire. Claudia gives the entire narrative its meaning, and without her, Interview with the Vampire would basically just be a toxic romance. And she’s not a helpless victim either; she’s smart, vengeful, desperate, manipulative when she needs to be, and emotionally more mature than the people who were supposedly meant to protect her. She loses the most throughout the show, but she’s also the one who fights the hardest, and that’s why she stands out every single time.
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