Season Two Of ‘Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire’ Delves Further Into The World Of These ‘Complex Monsters’

“Those kind of stripey snakes [making those eerie sounds], I would have genuine recurring nightmares about their hell world in [the movie] Beetlejuice.”

This is Jacob Anderson admitting that the ‘80s movie makes him squirm.

He adds, “I saw it way too young at my grandad’s house, and it’s the bit where they open the door and there’s snakes. I just find that terrifying and have since I was a kid, but I love it. I’m so drawn to it.”

For Sam Reid it’s The Blair Witch Project, as he says, I remember seeing [it] for the first time in the cinema, and like that was f-ing scary. Back in the day, people were vomiting in the cinema. You’re like, ‘Why are we doing this to ourselves?’ So that was kind of a revelatory experience, that you could feel something.”

The duo now are starring in their own scare fest as Reid plays vampire Lestat de Lioncourt and Anderson plays Louis de Pointe du Lac, a mortal who has become a vampire, in Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. The series also stars Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy, Assad Zaman as Armand and Delainey Hayles as Claudia.

The second season of the series features Prague, Paris and New Orleans, three cities that offer a deep well of scope and spectacle in exploring the courtship and love affair of Louis and vampire Armand.

Executive Producer Mark Johnson explains the trajectory of the second season saying, “The book spoke to us, and it really dictated where we went with this. At one point, when we did the first season, we actually toyed with going to Europe where most of this takes place, but we held off. So, this is really the second half of the book.”

Anderson says that his character is, “on a real rollercoaster and it can sometimes be like an exercise in ripping your guts out.”

There are ‘fewer humans’ this go-around, says Reid. “I think what’s interesting about season one is that it had a lot to do with the vampires finding their own world and it’s them against the rest of the world, basically. And, they kind of destroy themselves while they’re doing that, but season two is more about, vampires eating themselves.”

Reid continues the thought, explaining, “I think a character like Lestat is always about escaping the vampire world because vampires are complex monsters that have laws and rules and things that are quite archaic. So, he was always about trying to start a new life with Louis and then Claudia. Now in season two, it’s really about going back into that vampire world and so there is less interaction with humanity.”

Zaman sums up this installment of the series, and where things are headed, by pointing out, “We’re not just sort of throwing all of Anne Rice’s work on to the screen and [saying],‘this is all of it,’ but we’re planting the seeds. So I think [what] was planted in season one, in season two, we get to watch those seeds grow and then also plant more seeds for the future, which is going to be really exciting.”

‘Interview with the Vampire’ airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC, and is available for streaming on the AMC+ app.