The Cast of Peacock’s Vampire Academy Series Are Big Fans of the Books

Vampire Academy, the highly anticipated adaptation of Richelle Mead’s beloved YA series, debuts on Peacock this week and for fans of the novels, it’s kind of a big deal. The story of friendship, romance, and danger all set in a world not just privilege and glamour but of magic and, well, vampires as well has a passionate fan base that has been eager for a fresh adaptation after the 2014 theatrical adaptation. As it turns out, some of those passionate fans are themselves part of the Peacock series’ cast. ComicBook.com spoke with the cast of Vampire Academy and asked how the various stars prepared for the series and it turns out, most of them are also big fans of the books and are very excited to bring it to life in a new way.

“I’m a huge fan of the books myself. I read them when I was 13 or 14,” Jonetta Kaiser, who plays Sonya Karp. “I watched the movie and loved it and now I’m here. So, the thing about Sonya that’s so great is she’s a lot like me because I grew up very shy and didn’t have many friends. So, that is Sonya’s life, she just is alone in her library doing her thing, reading books or working and then talking to birds in her free time, which I don’t do, but I wish I could.”

For Siri Stringer, who plays Rose Hathaway, being cast in the series was even more exciting because she’s been a long-time fan of the books. Stringer said that loving the character so much having been a fan of the books let her step into the character so much more easily, too.

“I was a long-time fan of the books. I read them when I was a teenager, and me and my sister really loved them,” Stringer said. “And then I watched the movie. The movie was a guilty pleasure for me. So, when I got the brief for the audition, I was just like, ‘Oh, my God. This is actually Rose Hathaway. Can you believe it?’ And then when I booked the role, I called my sister, and she was super excited. And I just knew how to step into it because I was so familiar with her.”

However, not everyone was familiar with the series from the start. Daniela Nieves, who plays Lissa Dragomir, hadn’t read the books — but she immediately immersed herself and came to understand why Vampire Academy is so beloved.

“When I booked the role and I told some people, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to play this character and these books. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them, Vampire Academy.’ Nd they were like, ‘Yes, Oh my God. You’re going to play Lissa. No way.’ As soon as I booked the role, I bought the set of books and I got through them so quickly. And I was like, ‘Oh, I definitely understand why this is so popular.”

From executive producers Julie Plec & Marguerite MacIntyre comes a story of friendship, romance, and danger. In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society. One as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage “Strigoi” who threaten to tear their society apart. That is, if Royal infighting doesn’t do the job first.

Vampire Academy will debut on September 15th on Peacock.