In The Vampire Lestat episode six, we get a harrowing scene that comes directly from Anne Rice’s books. In the book Merrick, Louis calls upon the witch Merrick Mayfair to summon the ghost of Claudia so that he can gain her forgiveness. Much like in the series, things do not go well during this encounter. But in Merrick, Merrick suggests that the spirit she summoned might not have been Claudia at all, but instead “a nameless, malevolent spirit. An entity that draws from Louis’ memories to inflict pain on him in the physical realm.” In The Vampire Lestat, no such suggestion is made. But given the context of Anne Rice’s books, we checked in with Claudia actress Delainey Hayles for her perspective on whether we really saw Claudia appear in The Vampire Lestat. And Hayles confirms, yes, we did see Claudia in The Vampire Lestat episode six, but not all the best parts of her were present during the encounter.
Hayles shares the following about the spirit we see in The Vampire Lestat and whether it was a true version of Claudia. “I think she’s been dealt very hard cards in life, and I think the moment that we see her in, the moment that we visit Claudia in, I think that is her. I think she’s mega, mega fuming. Yeah, she’s angry and rightfully so, and she’s in pain. I think in the beginning, it’s all the shock to her to see the guys are in front of her, and then she is like, “Oh, you guys are together as well. How funny.” So it’s like that is all wrapped up in it, why she’s so angry.”
Hayles continues her thoughts about Claudia’s appearance in The Vampire Lestat, noting, “And I think to give you a short answer… Do I think that’s her? I think that is a version of her, yeah. Is it her completely? No, I think she’s a very happy vampire with a lot of love, but yeah, in the moment that we catch her in, the moment that we visit her, it’s nothing but pain for Claudia.”
And that’s a very interesting confirmation from Hayles about Claudia and her existence in life and in death. On the one hand, Hayles confirms that the spirit we see in The Vampire Lestat very much is Claudia. But it’s also a good reminder that Claudia’s tale is always being told to us by someone other than Claudia. We love Hayles’ vision that Claudia is full of love and happiness, and that the angry version of her that we see in The Vampire Lestat, or the often unhappy incarnation of Claudia we encounter in Interview with the Vampire, aren’t necessarily the full reflection of the character. Claudia’s angry, vicious words as a spirit are born of her desperation and her loneliness, and the sheer magnitude of unfairness that Louis and Lestat can reconcile, but here she is being dragged out of her death to soothe them. We’re glad Claudia gets to have her say in The Vampire Lestat, but hope that one day we get to see her full of that love and happiness.
Will we see Delainey Hayles’ Claudia return in The Vampire Lestat? We hope that if we do, it’s in a state of peace.
The Vampire Lestat is now streaming on AMC and AMC+. If you’d like more insights into the season, you can also pick up The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice for your reading pleasure.
Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She cannot possibly wait two more years for more of the The Vampire Lestat.
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