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KELLI: The Claudia séance and what happens at the end of episode 6 were the two scariest moments of my life. It's so scary to hear that she's been trapped in this afterlife by herself for so long. So, filming that, what was it like seeing Delainey perform this scene and just having to absorb it all?

SAM: It was amazing. It was amazing. And Sarah who played Merrick as well was astonishing. Astonishing.

KELLI: So great, so great.

JACOB: When we did the blocking, which was like a blocking rehearsal, we just had to sit down. And I think like halfway through we looked at each other, completely out of character, just like (shocked face)

SAM: Yeah, it was mind-blowing. 

JACOB: It was like watching a beautiful piece– this incredible piece of theater.

SAM: Also 'cause Delainey had this whiskey tumbler, she was like Elizabeth Taylor in Virginia Woolf, and it was just like... wow, this is wild. But it's wonderful closure for these characters as well, because I think they finally get to acknowledge that they were terrible parents and that they really used somebody that's like, a roof shingle that flew off their house, and they had to fully deal with that, that they continued to carry her as this sort of idolized thing, but actually they used her as a crutch in their marriage, and this person is really angry with them and she finally gets her actual say. She finally gets the truth out at them both, which was she fucking hated them both. But they love her for that because she's full of rage and the torrent and the terror that is Claudia and she was this powerful beast of a vampire that they didn't give enough credit to, and that they see her in this final moment with, and she gives them all her rage and they take it. And it's so devastating that she doesn't have a Louis or a Lestat in hell, and she's searching for Madeleine forever. It's the worst.

KELLI: Why did she have to be alone? It's so awful! She's been through enough!

SAM: They have to carry that. And they all carry that now. They carry not just the fact that they lost Claudia. They now carry the fact that Claudia is suffering.

KELLI: Forever.

SAM: Forever, and they did that.

JACOB It's such a good echo– It's such a good rhyme with the yellow dress in the cabinet. This idea of preserving her in amber and putting her in this... and actually we're so obsessed with legacy all the time, but actually Claudia has just been fucking dragged through the mud. She didn't get to be herself fully. She didn't get... all this talk about embracing who you are and what you are.

SAM: She didn't have it.

JACOB: Yeah, the one time she gets to do it she's in hell. It's too late.

KELLI: And that's also why Armand needs to go to jail. [Laughter] But uh to wrap up, in episode–

JACOB: I want to say though! About Armand. 'Cause I'm always shitting on Armand and actually I think the thing that is really key about that scene is that it's Louis and Lestat! Armand might have set the seeds, Armand might have killed her, but so did they. Both of them.

KELLI: Yeah, they're all culpable.

JACOB: Yeah. Yeah.

SAM: And the crazy thing about that too is that it's the final thing that puts Louis and Lestat back on a level where they're like, yeah. Who else is going to want us? [Laughter] We're literally made for each other.

So I have a very specific question for you, Sam, specifically related to the blood shower scene, which is that...  after the many, many horrors these two– that he shared with this, you know, gremlin that has wrought chaos upon him and his family, why does Lestat love toying with him more than he would want to like... just kill him.

SAM: Oh, wow. I don't think he could kill Armand if he– I don't– I think that would be difficult... maybe he could, maybe he has that power in him. I also don't think– I think he'd rather see Armand suffer than like a quick and easy death– I don't think Lestat's pro-vampire dying anyway. I don't think he's like Louis in terms of he doesn't have that "Let's kill him." I don't think Lestat likes killing vampires, unless you're a shitty regional vampire. Those old great ones I don't think he would want to kill, and he has respect for Armand in that regard. I think it's great fun for Lestat to play with Armand in that way. I mean that's their dynamic. I think they both get a kick out of it. I think they do complete a part of each other that is that is necessary for one another. I think that knowing that he can really rile Armand up in that way... yeah, he gets a real kick out of it. And also I think that Armand speaks to a self-destructive element in Lestat that is part of his ignition. He knows exactly why Armand is there. He knows exactly what he's doing is wrong; he knows he's breaking the rules again as he's always done. He's been the rule breaker and Armand's been the goody two-shoes who follows the rules, and is weirdly obsessed with law which is kind of so irrelevant and has no value whatsoever. But Armand, bless him, is just trying to put meaning in their totally meaningless existence and Lestat's like "Dude, just have a good time." But, because Armand is the mouthpiece for this weird vampire cult and how you live and how we operate, they give each other meaning because then Lestat has something to rebel against. Then he is a rebellion, and then he is this character that can create change. You can't create change if everyone's on your side. So, they complete each other in that capacity. And in a way, he wants to probably rile Armand up to bring an army up against him and do all of the things that he does, because it's good to have an enemy. Because if you have an enemy, then you have you have something to fight against. You've got purpose. I mean, they live forever. 

JACOB: They're so messy. And they need to be messy in order to give purpose to their existence. To give a sense of meaning to this all. And it goes too far sometimes: like Claudia being– but that I think is part of why Claudia's death is such a monumental earthquake, is that she's gone. Like they have to clash and contrast and collapse into each other and collide and destroy each other, but then come back and– like that's what this is, it's not like... I know I've definitely had some pretty reductive ideas about Armand in the past, but I think this is the fun of him, is that he's not just like– I love Armand in the Vampire Lestat! I will just say that. I just think it's such a delicious thing in this series.

SAM: And you haven't even seen all the episodes, right? So, I mean, like–

One left.

SAM: Yeah, he's a very– He's wonderful character.

JACOB: The subway. That episode ending in... is it episode four?

SAM: Five.

JACOB: Episode five! That is one of my favorite moments, shots, expressions in the history of our show. In the ~great annals~ of the show!

SAM: I know you've asked a really great question and I've not really answered it, but I suppose the answer is also in the lines, because [Lestat] does say "I knew it would torture you. I want to see you tortured. I want to see you suffer. I want that. I want to see you fucking beg", you know, which is really the best response that Armand can get out of Lestat.

JACOB: (Laughs) That's what he wants.

Jacob: I wanna say though! About Armand... I'm always shitting on Armand and actually I think the thing that is really key about that scene (Claudia in S3E6) is that Louis and Lestat, Armand might have set the seeds– Armand might've killed her, but so did they. Both of them!

Kelli: Yeah, they're all culpable.

Jacob: Yeah!  

Sam: And the crazy thing about that too is that it's the final thing that puts Louis and Lestat back on a level where they're like yeah... who else is gonna want us. We are literally made for each other.

(OP's note: Funny that the Loustat dialogue that Sam mentioned mirrors book!Loumand's quote lol: "'Yes,' I said softly to him, 'that is the crowning evil, that we can even go so far as to love each other, you and I. And who else would show us a particle of love, a particle of compassion or mercy? Who else, knowing us as we know each other, could do anything but destroy us? Yet we can love each other' reheating Loumand's nachos 😁)

as if Lestat wasn't the one who pushed Larry to the brink of suicide 💀 Larry's actor Noah Reid even pointed this out multiple times:

NOAH: Obviously, I think there's an element of Larry that has a lot of impostor syndrome and insecurity and a need to posture his way through that. And he's being confronted with who he's not when Lestat comes into the picture. [...] where we see Larry at his most vulnerable is after he's been broken down by Lestat and he's like, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. RYAN: [...] I mean... is it really Larry's fault that he has the yips? I don't know... NOAH: Well, I mean... he's been bullied. AUTUMN: Relentlessly! Quite relentlessly. RYAN: Yeah... he just becomes the punching bag for everything that's going on in Lestat's life.

After Dark S3E5: Armand in the closing shot of ep 5

LIZZIE: [Armand] looks so beautiful in that shot!

JACOB: So angelic!

LIZZIE: (Laughs) and he's just done the most evil thing!

SAM: (Shrugs) That's Armand!

ROLIN: What's terrifying is you're in editing, and for a second you start looking at the end and you're like... did it– did it stop? Did we do it on a freeze frame? And it's just– Assad is so in control of his physical body. He's just absolutely frozen for an unnatural long time.

MARK: Natural freeze frame.

ROLIN: It's really really–

What does Armand think of this little number like, 'having a lot of rules for a theatre kid'?

ASSAD: A theatre kid that [Lestat] made, basically!

Right?!

AUTUMN: In this season, Rolin and the writers have talked about, you know, due to creative and budgetary reasons, they can't do all the scenes from the 18th century within the 18th century. So they're moving those plot lines and character journeys into the present day. And I really think that–

ASSAD: If there's anything you don't like or you're confused by, just call it creative and budgetary reasons! That's the party line.

AUTUMN: Well, so here's the thing, too: I think this season really do have to rewatch and you do have to hold out for– Because I'm learning so much upon all of these rewatches where I'm like, wait a second. 

ASSAD: [...] I think structurally it's such a... I'd be really interested, and I know that this isn't me interviewing you, but actually I'm way more interested in hearing how you and also the rest of the audience are navigating this new almost– Because I– I was having sort of um, peaks and troughs of going on a journey myself as I was reading the scripts. And trying to um, reconcile with this form, and how it was so different but also um, taking on a new voice that this was the only way that– this was the perfect way to sort of take it. I was struggling with understanding where we were and where the crux of the story was going to land. [...] But I um. Yeah, I went on a journey. I went on a real journey with this season... as an audience member trying to understand it. Trying to... get into the same rhythm. How has it been for you, this rhythm? Have you...

AUTUMN: No, it's been very very different from my previous two experiences. I'm really glad that I'm not doing my weekly reaction videos because how I'm feeling immediately after watching episodes is very very very different to how I feel now after like immediately re-watching it then and there, and then also rewatching it with the context of the episodes that I have now, which of course I still don't have episode seven but um, there's so many moments from episodes one, two, three and four that make a lot more sense once you reach, up to episode six and everything.

ASSAD: Yeah, but this is it, and one of the things that I found fascinating and I think is really genius is the fact that you're made to feel such– I felt so strongly, for and against some of these things that were happening early on, but they are then revisited later on and acknowledged and completely recontextualized... which I found really fascinating, because I was like, what? why am I going on a bipolar journey here? Sometimes I'm devastated and then other times I'm looking back on that and going, why was I so devastated or... I don't know. But it kind of tracks with Lestat. Lestat is this amalgamation of so much emotion and instinct and performance and chaos and all of that stuff. And I think we should be feeling that as well! We shouldn't be like, you know; Louis was beautifully classy, and beautifully put. His story was beautifully put together and understood with the help of Molloy, because he let Molloy in and helped him navigate and understand the story, so we went on that journey together. Whereas here it's like Molloy is trying but Lestat is like, "Fuck you, I'm gonna tell this my way and I'm not going to tell it in any order that makes sense to you. I'm going to tell it how I feel at the time and I might go back and revisit something that seemed inconsequential to you, but I've just realised something about that thing so I'm going to look at that again. By the way, I'm going to go for a shit, and then I'll come back and tell you some more." and we're all like, "W-What...? Okay..."

AUTUMN: Trying to keep up with it all!

ROLIN: What was your question really quick?

Q: Just about Armand, and his relationship with–

ROLIN: Agh, just don't worry about Armand, guys! We can't talk about him because he's doing shit! It's just like, there's stuff going on– and honestly, the screeners that are out there don't know what he's doing yet. He has a huge chunk of episode 7.

While (spoiler alert) his transformation at the end of Season 2 isn't exactly the pinnacle of consent, Bogosian isn't surprised Molloy took it in stride. "When he says he doesn't want it in the first season, I don't think he trusts these guys very much. I mean, he could say, 'Yeah, give it to me', and the next thing you know, he's dinner. But really, deep down? He wants it. Those last moments of the last episode, you see how much fun he's having being awful. He's wanted to be this for a while, and he's gotten all this new energy. He's fully been corrupted." Bogosian laughs. Bogosian shrugs, smirking to himself before venturing into Molloy's offscreen transformation anyway. "I mean look, Daniel and Armand [played by Assad Zaman]. Armand has certainly got reason to be pissed off at me. And he's been told to lay off, and then he just can't help himself, and he jumps me somewhere along the line. Now, he could have killed me, but maybe it's even more fun to 'doom me' to the dark gift. Maybe we just got really drunk together one night and said, 'What the fuck, let's do this! I don't have any answers yet either."

Jul 3, 2024. Playbill

How does becoming a vampire change Daniel, aside from the obvious? "Isn't there a saying like, absolute power corrupts absolutely? You just don't know what's going to happen with a person if they get there," Eric Bogosian said. "How he makes that step, that will be a question," he continued. "How did this happen, exactly? What happened? I mean, I'm, I don't know, did we end up splitting a fifth of Jack Daniels and then all of a sudden his teeth are in my neck? I don't know. But once I'm there, it's time to find out what that's about. I think that's something for Daniel all the time is he goes exploring, and he's not afraid. So here we are. Let's find out what this is about. But I think also his personality will change a little bit. I mean, there are people that he has resentments toward and who knows what kind of revenge.. I don't know, I don't know where we're going with this. And neither does the Anne Rice books, say where we're going with this. There's no roadmap for this.

Jun 30, 2024. The Wrap

Assad, Armand hasn't made a vampire before. How did you respond to the fact that he's the one who turns Daniel? It feels like an act of revenge because Daniel ruined his nearly 80-year relationship. ASSAD: If you put it into human perspectives or human equivalences, it's almost the most heinous and violent act that you commit out of desperation and anger. It is the kind of crime of passion when you either kill someone or really mutilate them. We know how Armand feels because we hear in Episode 6 how he feels about the idea of making another vampire. That's why he's never done it. It repulses him, and I think it truly does. I think it's the idea of bringing someone into this kind of life knowing what he's been through. It's something he wouldn't wish even on his worst enemy until his worst enemy tears his life apart. What is brilliant is we have this question: When and how did this happen in Dubai? This season, the question was: What happened in San Francisco? I think next season is going to be: What happened in Dubai? I'm excited to explore how we got to that moment where Armand did it. Did it happen straight in a flash? I don't think it would have because Louis would have been too close in proximity. I'm really curious about how that goes down. [...] Still, when I said I wanted to see Daniel go for a drink with Lestat, Bogosian jokingly suggested: "I think that's how I became a vampire. I think we get really shit-faced together, and all of a sudden, his teeth are in my neck."

Jul 1, 2024. The Daily Beast

ERIC: Of course, what we don't see in the last episode is how did he become a vamp? Did he say, "Yeah, I want to do it?" Or did he get drunk with Armand one night and when he wasn't looking, he became a vampire? I guess we'll find out.

Jul 11, 2024. Vulture

"I have no idea what's coming," Bogosian adds in their joint interview. "No one does. It's all locked in the minds of Rolin and Hannah [Moscovitch, writer]. I'd love to see the two of us after everybody's gone, just getting really s**tfaced someplace, and then all of a sudden, he's biting me." We would, too. Daniel is Armand's first fledgling now, after all.

Jun 30, 2024. TV Insider

ASSAD: Okay yeah, Armand did turn Daniel, that's pretty obvious. It was an act of... a moment of savage madness and vengeance and chaos and all of that. I guess he did, in the moment, the one thing that he's always despised or never been able to... you know, he wanted to do the one thing that he found most distasteful– turning someone else. In that moment, he hated Daniel for breaking what he's been working so hard to keep together and he was like, 'Well, I'm gonna break you.'

May 23, 2026. The Vampire Lestat: After Dark ✕ Preview Special

ASSAD: Vampirism to Armand, I think, acts like a form of self-flagellation, similar to the way prayer and punishment go hand in hand. So yes, there’s agency in turning Daniel, but also, he’s punishing a man whom he also worships in a fucked up way.

Jun 1, 2026. Nerdist

ERIC: [Daniel]'s also– This doesn't come out as much in the very beginning; but he was made a vampire against his will, and that has to do with Armand. And he's really really angry at Armand. You will see at some point how angry he is. So all this combines to– what is it called? [Sam] gave the term– ROLIN: Oh, transformational trauma. SAM: I didn't give it, [Rolin] gave it the term! ERIC: The character [Lestat] gave it the term. So [Daniel]'s sort of in a traumatic state.

i’m hoping this means they’re waiting to release their best tracks, because the songs so far have been okayyy but not great? idk

Assad Zaman on 'Daniel's turning'

I don't think most of them genuinely mean any harm when they claim Assad is intentionally lying or withholding information in that interview. I just think that sometimes, when we ship a couple it’s easy to hear what we want to hear rather than what the canon actually says.