AMC is building a franchise out of the Vampire Chronicles novels written by Anne Rice, a franchise that began with the first season of their Interview with the Vampire series. Last Sunday, they started airing a series based on Rice’s Mayfair Witches novels – a series appropriately titled Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (read our review HERE). And during an AMC panel at a recent Critics Association presentation, executive producers of these shows revealed that they won’t be entirely separate. Viewers will see crossovers between Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches… which makes sense, since the Vampire Chronicles stories did become entwined with the Mayfair Witches series as they went on.
Esta Spaulding and Michelle Ashford, both of whom previously worked on Masters of Sex, are writers and executive producers on Mayfair Witches, and during the AMC panel Spaulding said there is one character who appears in both series already. She’s “waiting for somebody to figure out” who that character is. Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) is overseeing the building of AMC’s Anne Rice franchises, and he had this to say about the crossover possibilities (with thanks to Collider for the transcription): “I think if we continue you will see a lot of connections, both in terms of characters, in terms of geography — some of them sort of fun, some of them almost like Easter eggs, and we very much want to tie the worlds together in a way that makes sense. [Mayfair Witches and Interview with the Vampire are] completely separate on one hand, but thematically, just in terms of Anne Rice’s — the way she deals with characters and the way she presents them — we want to find a way to have that all fluid throughout the various shows.“
AMC has ordered a second season of Interview with the Vampire that will consist of eight episodes and take place in Europe.
Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire centers on the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac as he relates the story of his life to a reporter, in particular how he was turned into a vampire and then mentored by Lestat de Lioncourt.
The AMC version stars Sam Reid (The Newsreader) as Lestat; Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) as his companion Louis de Pointe du Lac; Bailey Bass (Avatar 2) as Claudia, a young girl who becomes part of Louis and Lestat’s vampire family; Assad Zaman (Small Axe) as Rashid, Louis’ companion in present day; newcomer Kalyne Coleman as Louis’ sister Grace; Christian Robinson (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) as Levi, an upstanding Baptist who has won Grace’s heart; and Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) as Daniel Molloy, an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime.
AMC’s Mayfair Witches series is an exploration of female power and the mortal implications of our decisions. Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.
The series stars Alexandra Daddario (We Summon the Darkness) as Rowan, Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) as Lasher, Tongayi Chrisu (Palm Springs) as Ciprien Grieve, Harry Hamlin (Mad Men) as Cortland Mayfair, Annabeth Gish (Rim of the World) as Diedre, Beth Grant (No Country for Old Men) as Carlotta, Erica Gimpel (God Friended Me) as Ellie, and Jen Richards (Her Story) as Jojo.
Are you glad to hear that Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches will be crossing over with each other? Share your thoughts on these shows by leaving a comment below.