Warning: Spoilers for Interview with the Vampire season 2, episode 7!
Summary
Interview with the Vampireseason 2, episode 7 may not be the finale, but it is the final time fans get to seeClaudia (played to perfection this season by Delainey Hayles)as the thriving vampire she was meant to be. “I Could Not Prevent It” recounts the aftermath of Armand’s betrayal, with Louis, Claudia, and even her newly-turned companion Madeleine on trial before the Théâtre des Vampires. Not only are they being condemned by Santiago in front of a jury of bloodthirsty humans, but the star witness in their persecution is Lestat.
French-Austrian actor Roxane Duran portrays Madeleine, whose blossoming relationship with Claudia has been one ofthe sweet spots ofInterview with the Vampireseason 2. While episode 6 saw Madeleine finally receive the dark gift in order to become Claudia’s true companion, their love and afterlives were cut short by the Théâtre des Vampires' machinations. Though it is of small consolation after Claudia has been mistreated by Lestat, ignored by Louis, and deceived by Armand, “I Could Not Prevent It” still offers a beautiful moment of peace when Madeleine chooses her over the coven.
Interview With The Vampire Season 3: Cast, Story, Trailer & Everything We Know
Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles has come to life on the small screen in AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, and the show is returning for season 3.
Screen Rantinterviewed Duran about the heartbreaking event ofInterview with the Vampireseason 2, episode 7. The actor shared how she perceived Claudia and Madeleine’s final moments, her advice for Louis and Lestat moving forward, and which Anne Rice novel she hopes to see adapted should the show continue to be renewed.
Roxane Duran Breaks Down “I Could Not Prevent It” On & Offscreen
Screen Rant: The trial was so tense to watch, but when talking to Jacob and Delainey, they said it was so much fun to make. What was the atmosphere like on set and how chaotic did it get?
Roxane Duran: Well, to be honest with you, it was a very joyful time. We had the sequence split into two, unfortunately, because of SAG strikes. It was an amazing experience of knowing that we couldn’t end it, and then finally managing to end it later. There was something really beautiful about everyone’s commitment, and how we just automatically felt our bodies sink back into where we’d been a couple of months earlier.
Hypnotized as I was in the role of Madeleine, it was me basically just having to concentrate on not falling asleep because it’s a very intense scene, and they stretched out the theater phase. It was a very incredible experience because [director] Emma Freeman just let all the actors go through it through long chunks.
To be honest with you, the moments that were most amazing for me were the rehearsals because I could just open my eyes and watch Daniel and Sam act their hearts out. Every take was slightly different, and it was really a joy to watch them work.
Poor Madeleine only got experience being a vampire for one episode, but we know time passed for her offscreen. Do you know how much time actually elapsed from the moment she was turned to the moment she and Claudia were sunned?
Roxane Duran: I actually don’t know, but there was quite a time stretch when the girls moved outside of Paris. They built their whole life, and they were trying to potentially start traveling. I think the off-time is interesting as well because these two girls really transformed this relationship into a companionship and realized that they’re meant for one another. It’s like ticking off the last few things to do before leaving and saying farewell to Daddy Lou, at least for a while.
That was a very touching and interesting scene also to act out. And the way Rolin Jones wrote it was really interesting because as soon as Madeleine becomes a vampire, she turns out to say all the truths; what everyone feels, but no one acknowledges. And it was really interesting how she would just point it out, which was a joy to do.
My favorite moment in episode 7 is Madeleine calling Claudia her coven, which is beautiful and heartbreaking at once. What truly motivated her choice to become a vampire, and do you think that she regrets it when all is said and done, or would she have done it again?
Roxane Duran: I think it’s very peculiar because it’s difficult to understand Claudia and Madeleine together. You see these totally opposite women who have the same personalities: very strong, headfirst, socially incapable, and very bloody in a way. Madeleine’s very instinctive and cooler in a very reptilian way.
It was really interesting to just figure out that these are two souls that have been crushed together, and it fits and feels good. You can’t really explain it. I think when you meet the person with whom you feel at home, you want this to stretch as long as you can. Seeing all the flashbacks of Madeleine, how she’s been through trauma over and over again and finally found her rock, I think it makes sense that she says, “Okay, let’s forget about the real world and do this forever.”
And her choice at the trial of picking Claudia as her coven makes sense because, when you’ve found your person, why waste another second without them? It’s heartbreaking. And it’s not even a tough choice, but it’s at the same time extremely selfish and extremely selfless. Because it’s you and me, and if it’s not you and me? Then nothing is happening. What would be the joy of having the world without you? It just doesn’t make sense.
One can’t expect Madeleine to have many thoughts about Louis and Lestat, given her own circumstances. But if you had to give them some advice after watching their domestic drama play out on the grand stage, what would you say to them?
Roxane Duran: There’s hope because there’s love, and you’ll just grow wise. I think that is really what transpires out of episode 7. There’s so much pain, but there’s so much love — not in the most sane ways, but you see how much they care about one another.
What I find really brilliant about this episode is that it takes you back not only to Paris in 1945, but also to NOLA. All the fans watching get to be taken back, viscerally and emotionally, to what they lived a season prior. I think there’s nothing stronger than that. You see how the quality of the first season just transpires into the second, and you just have to watch the memories just spur out. It’s really beautiful what they’ve managed to do.
Interview With The Vampire Didn’t Show All Of Madeleine & Claudia’s Story (But What It Did Show Was Amazing)
If you were able to go back and film more scenes, or if there was a spinoff episode or flashbacks or ghost sequences, is there anything else you would like to explore for Madeleine?
Roxane Duran: Probably serenity, to be honest with you, that would’ve appeased Madeleine. More with Delainey, more wildness, and more life.
To be honest with you, I’m very bad at imagining things for myself. When someone’s like, “I think that could be interesting,” then I’m like, “Yes, definitely. Why didn’t I think about that?” But that’s what I find very fascinating about everything that Rolin and Hannah [Moscovitch] have written; it’s on point and precisely where it has to be. Working through the scenes and shooting them just felt extremely organic, therefore I couldn’t ask for better.
Looking back at the season as a whole, outside of episode 7, what was one of the moments that stood out to you most after filming?
Roxane Duran: I think, instinctively, the scene with Assad just felt really good in our bones because it was the first time that we shot together. We didn’t really know if it was going to click, but it kind of synced. We also had this theater approach because it was a very long scene that we shot back-to-back.
And once again, we were stopped in the middle. It’s quite terrifying how this happens, but we had a huge storm, and we were in the studios built outside and not in the studios built inside. All of a sudden, someone said, “Okay, we have to exit and put you in safety places.” We waited two hours, and then we were allowed to shoot the scene. The next morning, Assad had to shoot all of his scenes, all the takes on him, and he was extremely good at it. It really felt like it happened two seconds ago, and he was just popping back into it. But that was a scene that I was extremely happy about.
The other one was the flashback where we shave Madeleine because I went through so much research of specifically what her life was before, and I never expected when I auditioned to actually get to show these parts with her. And it was really interesting how Rolin just popped a few ideas out, and then you work with the historical context and what you have at hand with Anne Rice’s books, then you just mingle all of that together. That was really a very interesting collaboration to work through.
I think what Rolin and [director] Levan Akin clocked from the start was the defiance in her. Then Emma was brilliant at just giving us so much space and freedom and structure and light every day.
Speaking of Anne Rice’s books, how many have you read? Are there any you’re very excited to watch play out onscreen should the series get to more of them?
Roxane Duran: I read the first few. To be honest with you, I cannot wait for them to start Queen of the Damned because it’s so brilliant. It’s just so insane. And I’m really curious about Gabrielle, who’s another female lead [in the books]. She’s really, really interesting.
If You Loved Interview With The Vampire’s Madeleine, Check Out Roxane Duran’s Other Projects
You are also inMarie Antoinette. What can we expect from Josephine in season 2?
Roxane Duran: God, I had such a blast. We leave Josephine very secure, confident with lovers and freedom. And as soon as we come back into season 2, you’ll see her utterly depressed and alcoholic and scrambling in her life. It’s very interesting, all the turns that they gave me, and it was a very nice ride. And to be honest with you, I can only thank my glorious husband Jack Archer, because he is such a terrible person onscreen yet such a loving human.
Everyone was just adorable here as well. Jacob and Sam are also just the cutest and the kindest. When you see Jacob and Sam’s relationship as friends and as colleagues, it’s just so kind and endearing and really human. There’s something so deeply kind about them, and it makes you feel at home even though I just popped in for a couple of days.
It’s quite amazing how I was shooting both the second season of Marie Antoinette and the second season of Interview With The Vampire at the same time because of the strike, because it wouldn’t have been possible any other way. One day I was in corsets delivering lines, and then the next day I was being shaved and attacked in the streets. But what makes the moments in Marie Antoinette for me quite endearing because they were more relaxed moments. And then when I came here, it was extremely violent and visceral, and the balance of both was really interesting.
Finally, is there any other project you’re working on that you’re excited for people to see, or any of your previous works that you hopeInterview with the Vampireviewers check out?
Roxane Duran: I am currently wrapping up another series for Disney+ called Vienna Game, about the political circumstances for Napoleon after Waterloo. It’s about all the powers combining and the women being in charge, which is very interesting. And I get to play an Empress, Marie Louise Bonaparte. They really have a very, very good way of writing, and it’s very exciting.
And then I think that maybe Evolution by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, which is a bit of a horror movie, could interest the fans of Vampire. There’s also another product that I really liked: Age of Uprising: The Legend of Michael Kohlhaas withMads Mikkelsen, who is just the kindest soul ever.
About Interview With The Vampire Season 2
The interview continues in season 2. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Delainey Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.
Check out our otherInterview With The Vampirechats here:
The finale ofInterview With The Vampireseason 2 premieres Sunday, June 30 at 9/8c on AMC and AMC+.
Interview with the Vampire
Cast
Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis' life during the interview, the series examines Louis' relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.
