- 5/23/2025
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00:00Hi, everyone.
00:06What do you think?
00:07Are you ready?
00:08Should we do this?
00:09That's the right answer.
00:11Hi, I'm Debra Birnbaum.
00:12I'm the editor-in-chief of Gold Derby, and it's my pleasure to welcome you tonight to
00:19your four-year consumption event.
00:21I love a pun.
00:22And I can't even claim credit for it, it's theirs, for Interview with the Vampire.
00:30So quick show of hands, how many people have watched season one?
00:34How many people have watched season two?
00:37How many people are going to go home tonight and binge both seasons?
00:40That's the right answer.
00:41Thank you very much.
00:42Well, I'm just going to give you a little, some sound bites to tease you.
00:47One of the best shows currently on television.
00:50One of the best shows of the decade.
00:54One of the all-time greats.
00:56A feast more than worth devouring.
00:59And of course, a bloody good time.
01:04Critics can't resist a pun.
01:06Two Critics' Choice nominations, two Gotham Award nominations, two TCA nominations, and
01:1398% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes for both seasons.
01:17There you go.
01:21Pretty impressive for a show, and that's pretty rare.
01:23All right, so for all of those who haven't seen it or need a little bit of a catch-up,
01:28we've got a great catch-up for you.
01:29This is a fantastic second season.
01:32Where's my notes?
01:33There it is.
01:34All right, so let's take a look at everything that the cast and the creative team brought
01:36to life in season two.
01:37We're going to show you a clip that'll set everything up for you.
01:40Let's play the clip.
01:42Don't be afraid.
01:49Just start the tape.
01:50Welcome to the Theater des Vampires.
01:51The Americans are here.
01:52It's different here.
01:53I love it.
01:54I never want to leave.
01:55Who's that handsome man on the wall up there?
02:07They got a shrine to him.
02:08What if they find out we killed him?
02:10We both now exist in two different worlds.
02:13Back to hell with you!
02:16Are you schizophrenic, Louis?
02:18Doomed.
02:19Always doomed.
02:20It's another one over me!
02:21What about me?
02:22And you?
02:23You and me?
02:24Me and you?
02:25Let me tell you a little something about 18th century Armand.
02:32You fear Armand.
02:34You should fear the other one.
02:35Stab me.
02:36Stab me.
02:37Stab me.
02:38Stab me.
02:39Stab me.
02:43Stab me.
02:45Stab me.
02:48I mean, I've got some questions.
02:49I don't know about you, but let's do this.
02:51All right?
02:52Let's bring out the creative geniuses who pulled this all together, starting with series
02:55composer Daniel Hart.
03:00And by the way, that was his music you were listening to while you're all getting settled.
03:05Next we have production designer Mara Lapert-Shloop.
03:08Next, we have editor Yuka Shirasuna.
03:18You know him as Lestat, the very handsome and charming Sam Reid.
03:24And he is also charming and handsome, and he's the executive producer who oversees the
03:27Anne Rice Immortal Universe.
03:29How's that for a title?
03:30Mark Johnson.
03:31Hi everyone, congrats again on the second season.
03:48Hello.
03:50It's so great to see everybody here.
03:53And Roland Jones, who created the show and sort of the mastermind, is so jealous.
03:58He is scouting outside of the country, and the idea that we're all here, all of his major
04:05collaborators without him, I know how hard it is.
04:09We're going to do our part to make him really jealous, and we're going to talk about him
04:12a lot tonight, I'm sure.
04:14So let's start with, I want to hear from all of you, talking about season two, which is
04:17really incredible.
04:18I would love to hear from each of you, what's a favorite moment?
04:21What's a standout moment for you from the second season that really speaks to the craft
04:26and all that you've accomplished?
04:27Mark, do you want to start?
04:28Boy, I have so many.
04:33The one that stands out, and just looking at this and being reminded of it, is at the
04:37very end of the first episode of the season, it's the back of a truck when Louis is talking
04:47to Claudia, and we think it's just the two of them, and he's talking about you and me,
04:52me and you, you and me, and the camera drifts over.
04:56There is Lestat, so whether or not he's there in person, the specter of Lestat is going
05:02to stay throughout the entire season.
05:05Sam, what about for you?
05:09I think the sets, really.
05:12For this season, particularly, I remember walking onto the set for the first time, there's
05:17an incredible theater that they built, and Amara and her team have built, and it's functional,
05:24like totally functional.
05:25We go backstage, you've got all of the dressing rooms, each individual vampire has their own
05:30little style and coffin that's there, and down to the details, heartbreaking actually
05:35sometimes because there's so much detail that it's impossible for them to film it, but it's
05:41sort of, it was astonishing, it was so transporting.
05:44That and working with Jacob, obviously, I think Jacob is such an incredible actor, and
05:50the breadth that he goes through this season is sort of mind-blowing, and having to be
05:58with him the whole time and see that has been a real joy.
06:04There's so many moments I really love, but if I have to pick one, I would say the scene
06:13in the season finale, when Louis is meeting, finally meeting real Lestat, and that's the
06:21scene I was so lucky to get a chance to cut that scene, and then that moment when I was
06:28watching the dailies, I was crying, so yeah, that's the scene.
06:35Mara, what about for you?
06:38It's so hard, there's so many great ones.
06:41When I first signed on for this project, originally the two seasons were going to be
06:45shot as one, it was going to be one, the first book was going to be the first season, and
06:50the Teatro de Vampires, the Theater of Vampires, was going to be the first season, and when
06:55they split it into two, which was a brilliant idea, I was like, shit, that's the one I really
07:04want, so getting to do season two was amazing to realize that, but I think just seeing this
07:11clip again, it's funny when you are away from it for so long, what's amazing is just the
07:17moment that you see with Sam or Lestat walking into the theater in advance of the episode
07:25seven sequence, it's just amazing with Daniel's score and with everyone's editing, it's just,
07:31I think what's so incredible about this show is just the level of brilliance that everybody
07:38brings, and when you see it together, it's just so, I'm so proud to have been a part of it.
07:47Daniel?
07:48One of the first things I started working on for season two was the song that Claudia
07:53sings at the beginning of episode four, I don't like windows when they're closed, and
07:58I worked on this, I wrote the song long before it was filmed, and then it was even several
08:04more months before I actually got to see it, when I first got to see the opening of
08:08episode four, and see everybody in costume and all the animations in the theater, all
08:13the choreography, it's just a really very fulfilling full circle moment for me.
08:20Marwan, a question for you, the TV landscape is so crowded, there are so many shows right
08:24now, but critics have obviously, as I kind of called out at the top, really responded
08:27so much to this, what is it about the show that you think has resounded so well with
08:31critics?
08:33Sorry, what was that?
08:35Why have critics responded so well to the show, what is it that makes it stand out in
08:38such a crowded landscape?
08:39Well, that's a really good question, I just think it's the artistry, and there's nothing
08:45about it, and it's so honest and beautiful, and it's, you know, I look at it, I just don't
08:54see a false moment in it, and I think that, quite frankly, there are a lot of good shows
08:59in television, but they ebb and flow, and I think that this show, I feel like, comes
09:06out of the starting gate, and just doesn't let up, and it embraces themes, really important
09:12themes about memory, and quite frankly, and love, and family, and quite frankly, who am
09:25I, in such an honest way, that I think it's pretty much hard to ignore.
09:32And Sam, it seems to have exploded a bit on social media, you may have noticed, what has
09:37that been like for you, why do you think fans have responded so much to the show?
09:42I don't know, but I would say that we're very faithful to the source material, I mean, Rowan
09:52is a freakishly talented man, he's sort of, he's got this very intense energy about him,
10:00which is, he's a lot of second guessing, but incredibly confident, and I think that's what
10:05the show is, it's incredibly confident, so you feel strong when you're there, because
10:10there's been a lot of agonizing, and panicking, and freaking out, and a lot of people over-committing
10:17to lots of different decisions, and then everyone is very confident, and particularly
10:23in Rowan's vision, and Rowan, you know, he takes the source material, he respects it,
10:31he rips it apart, he spits it up, he chews it out, and then he puts it back, and somehow
10:36it's like, it just gets the vibe, like the vibe of the books is there, and I think that's
10:42really important to the fans, the original fanbase, and they have helped a lot, they've
10:47really kind of spread the word online, and continue to generate a sort of fever around
10:56the show, and then we have people into it who've never read the books, and who're just
11:00into some really hardcore, extreme stuff, because it's a show, it's kind of like a show
11:07about screaming, and shouting, and pain, and blood, which you don't really get to do
11:14very often, so it's very fun.
11:18Just another day on the set.
11:20Basically, like a day on the set is being covered in blood, crying, being lifted up
11:27on a hoist, being moved around, speaking four different languages, somebody eventually brings
11:33in an animal of some kind, and then, of course, you have Daniel Hart's music, which is like,
11:44this thing, we always know that he's writing, and Rowan probably cheekily shares what Daniel's
11:50thinking for a specific scene, so quite early on, so we have it bubbling in the back of
11:55your head, but you always get his demos, or just an idea, or two frames, and then when
12:03you actually see the show with this full orchestral abuse on top of it, it's very confronting.
12:12I remember watching season one for the first time, and having to, most people raise their
12:20hands when they watch season one, so in episode five, they have the fight, and it's really
12:25intense, I remember seeing that for the first time, when we shot it, it didn't seem that
12:28intense, I can tell you, and then watching it with the music, with the way, and also
12:35the way it's been edited together, with Jukka's editing, the way that this, and Rowan's aggression
12:41in his confidence, really, it's very hard-hitting, and it's cool, because at the end of the day,
12:48it's a vampire show, but it's managing to get in there, under the skin, and it's something
12:55to be proud of, I think.
12:58If I could add to that, and just Rowan's intensity, but also his foresight, Rowan, when we scout,
13:05when we went to Paris in advance of shooting, and Prague, and scouting all around, often
13:12I'd be quizzing him about tone of the scene, and intention, and what we're doing, and he
13:18wouldn't answer any of those questions, but he would give me his earphones, and he would
13:24already have a, even though Daniel hadn't written anything, but there'd be a piece of
13:31music that he was like, this is the scene, and it was such an amazing way to communicate
13:37what we were trying to achieve, and I've never worked with someone who thinks in these multi-dimensional
13:44ways where it's like, and communicates like that, and it's both incredible and horrifying,
13:51but I think that it's what makes Rowan so amazing.
13:55Daniel, what is your creative process, how do you approach creating the music, it almost
13:59is another character, it very much is another character in the show.
14:03Rowan and I have a lot of conversations, a lot of disagreements, he gives me a lot of
14:10references of other pieces of music, from Bach to Nirvana, and then I go to work, and
14:24I tinker and I fiddle in my little home studio, and I stay up until 3am, and then I go back
14:35and listen to it the next day, and then I say, this is terrible, and then I break it
14:41all down and try and build it back up again, and then I send it to Rowan, and then he sends
14:46me a cake in the mail, because he's so happy.
14:51Actual cake?
14:52An actual cake.
14:53What kind of cake?
14:54It was a vanilla cake with some kind of citrusy frosting.
14:59I was expecting blood icing or something.
15:02That would have been on point, wouldn't it?
15:05Maybe that wasn't available on short notice, I'm not sure.
15:08I'm available for consulting.
15:12And Jukka, how do you then put all these pieces together, how do you edit this to make sure
15:16that the tone is right when you're balancing all of these disparate pieces?
15:22This show is very, very complicated.
15:26So in editing room, when I'm working with Rowan, so let's say before Rowan comes in
15:35to editing room, I read scripts so many times, and I edit two seasons, so I think I understand
15:45this show pretty well.
15:47And then I read scripts so many times, and I watch every single dailies, and then when
15:53I'm ready to show him the cut, I'm pretty confident, okay, this is the scene.
16:01But then when I hear his feedback and his thoughts, I'm just learning totally new things
16:09every scene.
16:11So his head is so complex, so many filters, I just want to open up his head and see what's
16:20inside.
16:22Yeah, but yeah, and also he's a great editorial, he's very, very good at articulating, telling
16:30me what he's thinking.
16:33So when we are working together, it's just a lot of fun.
16:39It just keeps, we just make, keep making the scene better.
16:45So I don't know, so a lot of shows, editing process could be very tough, and a very frustrating
16:52process, but this show, working with Rowan, with his incredible, weird talent.
17:00So yeah, editing is just all about fun, making the show good.
17:05And then we got a lot of good performances, amazing music, and then production design,
17:11especially performances is so amazing.
17:14So it's really good problem to have, but there are so many good takes, and I have to
17:20pick one take, make it to the screen.
17:25So just picking performances with all the actors we have, that's just amazing experience
17:36for me, and I feel really lucky.
17:38It's really too bad you all don't get along, I mean, the fighting on stage, it's just embarrassing,
17:42guys, I don't know.
17:44Well, if you weren't doing enough of a High Wire act, season two also introduced a show
17:47within a show.
17:48We have the, I'm not going to say it right, because I can't do French, but a theater to
17:52vampires.
17:53So can we play that clip, so everyone can get a sense of what that looks like?
17:59I, a vampire, is being hunted with every breath, every heartbeat, every sidelong glance.
18:13Louis was saying, come to me.
18:16Come to me?
18:17Those are his words.
18:19He kept coming right after me.
18:23Come to me!
18:24Fuck you!
18:30Stop it!
18:31He's retired.
18:32Come to me.
18:37He said it to me.
18:41How do you know that it was not your own voice, Louis, speaking your own unspeakable desires,
18:51screaming them in the darkness, in the hopes that I would come to you?
19:11Mara, how did you even approach creating that theater?
19:15How did you find it?
19:16Was it an existing space?
19:18How did that begin?
19:19Over the course of the two years, we had looked at so many different countries and places
19:24and trying to find the right fit for creating Paris in the 1940s, before and during and
19:33after the war.
19:34And it's funny, because we had seen so many different theaters in so many places, and
19:41we were trying to figure out whether to build it from scratch or not.
19:43And we went to Prague for a scout, and there was this kind of dilapidated old warehouse
19:50in the outskirts of the city, and I walked in and I was like, this is it.
19:57And it was just this kind of bare factory floor, but it was like, there's something
20:02about the industrialism and this idea that they had kind of moved in and created this
20:09and had pillaged a church to outfit some of the elements of it.
20:14And I was like, this is 100%.
20:17But you never know how everyone else is going to react to these things, because it literally
20:22looked like it was an abandoned factory.
20:25And again, these kind of special, the chemistry of our entire teams.
20:33Roland walked in and he just looked at me and he was like, this is it.
20:38And I was like, thank God.
20:41And then we designed everything around that.
20:43So we ended up building quite a bit in the space.
20:46And it was cold and miserable, and it was horrible for the actors.
20:54But again, a testament to the team that everyone kind of...
20:57Actually haunted.
20:58Yeah, it was not great.
21:01Vampires?
21:02Yeah, maybe vampire rats.
21:05No, some of the crew from Prague would walk around with a sage.
21:11And they felt there was an actual ghost.
21:14And there were a few injuries and people were pushed off the stage,
21:18felt people being pushed off the stage.
21:20It's the chair that Sam sat in during the trial.
21:24That was just me, I just broke the chair.
21:26Exploded.
21:27And every day we were like, ooh, right, sorry about that.
21:32But in the end, I think the payoff was great.
21:35I just want to give so much credit.
21:38Again, the very first season,
21:41when I first was talking to Roland about the project,
21:46there were two things that he was certain about.
21:49And it was the casting of Santiago,
21:51and it was that he wanted to work with this theater company
21:54based in London in 1927
21:57that does these animated theater productions.
22:01And flash forward a year and a half later,
22:05when we actually started to conceive of Season 2,
22:09we enlisted that company,
22:11and they did make those animations with us.
22:14So we worked in lockstep with them.
22:16It was a challenge because we didn't have the script for Episode 7,
22:20but we knew that the whole kind of Lestat's retelling
22:25of what had happened in Season 1 in New Orleans
22:29was going to be told through the animations
22:32of the production company,
22:34which is a really screwed up way
22:36to inevitably what happens in those scenes.
22:39And what's so amazing about what Roland does
22:42is that playfulness of tone,
22:45of this is this very, very serious, horrible thing that's happening,
22:49and then there's these garish animations above you
22:53that are comically rehashing this domestic abuse situation.
22:58So it's such a gift that we got to work with these amazing people,
23:03and it made me look better
23:06because we had their craftsmanship on display during the scene.
23:11And Sam, I want to talk about your performance in that scene.
23:14What was your acting process like?
23:16How did you get yourself into that headspace to do that?
23:19Well, it's always kind of weird when you receive a script
23:22and it's like one entire play monologue for a television series.
23:28It's quite unique.
23:29I was a bit freaked out by it originally
23:32because it was all set in the exact same spot.
23:38So that was 60 minutes of standing in the same spot.
23:42And I thought, this can't be real.
23:46But luckily, Emma Freeman, who directed this episode,
23:49who I have worked with a number of times,
23:52yeah, who I adore,
23:54she had the same kind of reaction.
23:56She was like, you can't be serious.
23:58And so we did talk, and then there was some like,
24:01okay, when are we going to go into the audience?
24:03When are we not?
24:04So the movement was really important.
24:07But this is the crazy thing about Roland's scripts,
24:11is that this is like a triple bind.
24:13There's like five different things happening every single page at the same time.
24:20The start is like doing a play that was written by somebody else
24:24pretending to speak lines that he is speaking for himself.
24:30At the same time, he's trying to send secret messages to Louis.
24:34At the same time, he's trying to mind control the whole audience
24:39and getting whirled up in his own personal shit
24:43because he's like a very emotional character.
24:46So you just ride the wave of Lestat emotion.
24:51Yes, it's a wild thing.
24:53It's a really crazy thing to attempt to film a play and make it interesting.
24:58I don't know if we succeeded because I can't watch that episode.
25:06You did.
25:08I think it's brave, though.
25:10It's super brave.
25:12And that's why I really admire Roland.
25:15He's like, we're going to do a whole play for a whole episode
25:19and it's going to work.
25:21And it's gut-wrenching.
25:25It's the end of Claudia.
25:27Oh, sorry.
25:29Spoiler alert.
25:30Well, you're late.
25:31There are books.
25:33But yeah, it's a big episode and the way that it's done is very contained.
25:37It kind of fits into our chamber piece from season one
25:41but in a more meta context.
25:44So you have to really think about that stuff when you're acting, I suppose.
25:48Well, it all leads up to a pretty epic finale, which we have a clip from.
25:52So let's take a look at where it takes you.
25:58I didn't know it was a gift.
26:03I wore it like a curse.
26:06I was selfish.
26:12I tried to make nights awful for you.
26:18I see.
26:19I wanted you to suffer.
26:22Because I was suffering.
26:30Shall we list all the ways we have wronged each other
26:33and why it will never be right between monstrous...
26:35I came to thank you.
26:40For the gift you offered me.
26:43The gift I denied.
26:45For the nights in front of me.
26:48Where I might learn to live honestly.
27:09September 8th.
27:151973.
27:19September 8th, 1973.
27:23It was 11.07 here.
27:27It could have been 9.07 in San Francisco.
27:31Armand called me.
27:37Were you there?
27:40Yeah.
27:41Yeah.
27:49Did you hurt yourself?
27:52I was lost.
27:55And I was in a dark place.
27:57And...
28:01I was thinking about...
28:02About...
28:10I can't...
28:12I can't get her out of my mind.
28:20You have the same problem.
28:28I can't, Louie.
28:30I can't.
28:31I can't.
28:34I can't. It's not on you.
28:37Do you hear me?
28:41I carried her home.
28:44I made you turn her up.
28:48I could have saved her from the fire.
28:51Until a half century later she...
28:58She looked at me at the end.
29:02Like a child.
29:06Looking to her father.
29:12But I was new.
29:32I noticed you weren't watching.
29:38Can you watch yourself?
29:40I mean, you get used to it.
29:42You do have to.
29:44Particularly in ADR and things.
29:46It's a bit intense watching yourself right here like that
29:49with the neck crane as well.
29:51But how about that very intense music by Daniel Harvey?
29:54I was going to say, Daniel, the question has to go to you.
29:56Talk about that music.
29:58How did you even approach scoring that scene?
30:00A lot of Season 2's music revolved around the Théâtre de Vampyr.
30:07And because Lestat was absent physically
30:11from a lot of Season 2 up until the end,
30:16I made the decision at the beginning of Season 2
30:19to purposely withhold the main themes
30:22that I had written for Season 1.
30:25Three big themes.
30:27The music that plays when Louis gets turned by Lestat
30:30in the first episode of the series,
30:32which becomes Louis' theme.
30:35The love theme between Lestat and Louis.
30:37And then Claudia's theme.
30:39These three themes,
30:41we tried to keep them out of Season 2,
30:43keep them away.
30:45We were focused on other things.
30:47Other things were happening.
30:49This was Louis and Claudia on their adventure
30:51trying to find other vampires.
30:53Becoming a part of this theatre company.
30:54The love relationship between Louis and Armand.
30:56All these things were left away.
30:59And I was so...
31:02I was like,
31:04we're going to find a way.
31:06We'll get back to those themes.
31:08I love those themes.
31:10We'll get back to them.
31:12And I was just chomping at the bit.
31:14Finally, this final piece of music
31:16in the finale of Season 2,
31:18I was able to work in Louis' theme,
31:20Claudia's theme,
31:22and then it ends with the love theme
31:24and it made me cry
31:26when I was writing it
31:28and when I watched it over and over again
31:30as I was preparing it for the orchestra.
31:33So I guess I'm glad
31:35that I made that choice
31:37to withhold those themes.
31:39It felt very powerful and right for the moment.
31:42It seemed really obvious too,
31:44what else would I do there?
31:46There's no other choice.
31:48Just put these themes back in
31:50for these characters.
31:52So where does that leave us
31:54with respect, Mark?
31:56What can you tell us?
31:58Very little, actually.
32:01These seasons 1 and 2
32:03are based on the book
32:06Interview with the Vampire
32:08and this one is...
32:10We're a little bit more...
32:12As Sam said earlier,
32:14Roland Jones is very much
32:16his story, his storytelling,
32:19but he has great respect
32:21for Anne Rice.
32:22And so it really is
32:24Anne Rice through Roland Jones
32:26and I know,
32:28I guess I can say
32:30there's going to be
32:32an awful lot of Lestat
32:34in season 3.
32:36And a lot of Daniel Hart
32:38as well.
32:40I hear there's going to be singing.
32:42A lot of songs.
32:44There's going to be a lot of songs.
32:46Alright, well we're looking forward to it.
32:48Unfortunately we've got to end it there.
32:50Thank you all so much.