When AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” returned for its second season, the gothic, blood-soaked drama shifted into even more emotionally complex territory, both for its characters and the actors behind them. After a critically acclaimed debut season anchored by Sam Reid’s enigmatic Lestat and Jacob Anderson’s brooding Louis, showrunner Rolin Jones raised the stakes by recasting the role of Claudia. Enter Delainey Hayles.
A relative newcomer with an impressive theatre background, Hayles took on the impossible task of redefining Claudia—a vampire trapped in the body of a young teenage girl—just as the character begins to fracture under the weight of trauma, betrayal, and isolation. In Season Two, Claudia becomes both the soul and the spark of the show’s emotional engine, leading to some of the series’ most daring set pieces—including the jaw-dropping “Baby Lou” performance and the tragic trial that seals her fate.
“It was one of those things where I felt like I was on a secret mission,” Hayles says of rehearsing for the theatrical Baby Lou sequence between night shoots. “Everybody else started work later in the day, and I’m learning this dance that no one knew anything about.”
From the outset, Hayles was all in. Within days of being cast, she was flown to Prague to finalize Claudia’s look before diving headfirst into production. Drawing on her stage experience and deep research into Anne Rice’s source material, Hayles forged her interpretation of the character while honoring what came before.
“I wanted to keep in mind how often she was compared to a doll,” Hayles shares. “There were lots of hours spent in the mirror… But then you get there, and all my first scenes were with Jacob, it just came naturally.”
Delainey Hayles spoke with Awards Focus about the rapid casting process, preparing to be Baby Lou, and the personal impact of portraying such a beloved—and ultimately tragic character.
Awards Focus: Which scenes did you read during the casting process, and how many casting sessions were there?
Delainey Hayles: I had three scenes. I got two scenes to audition with, and one I got given, I think two days before, and I had to quickly learn that. One of the scenes I remember was the beginning of episode two when they’re on the statue. I’m very dyslexic, so it came slowly, but you know, in the room when I was bouncing against Jacob, I was really happy with how it turned out. I had done a self-tape and then met Rolin [Jones] and Jacob [Anderson] for an in-person audition. I got the job probably two days later.
AF: How long after you’d been cast were you going into production?
Hayles: Two days after that, I got flown to Prague to finalize my look for Claudia. Then, I came home for two days. It was a weekend when I had to pack everything and then went back to Prague for filming.
AF: You’ve got an extensive background in theater. How did that prepare you for playing Claudia and the speed of moving into production so quickly after being cast?
Hayles: I think it helped a lot. What I love about theater is that everything is kind of immediate. You get a reaction there, and you have to get it the first time because you cannot do any do-overs. Bringing that into TV helped a lot because I could get things the first time, and then I was allowed to play around, which I really enjoyed doing. I did numerous takes of things because you just get to experiment and find what you think is right, whereas in theater you have to feel it there, and that’s what you’ve gone with. I’d finished “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” and my brain was still in script-reading momentum. When I got started with the scripts, everything kind of came quicker than it normally does because I really do struggle with lines. I won’t lie. Learning them is the bane of my life, but once I get it, I’m in there.
AF: Were you watching season one to inform how you would play Claudia, or was there room to explore your interpretation of her?
Hayles: It was a bit of everything. As soon as I got to Prague, I was having lots of phone calls with Rolin. He was like calling me like, “Which episode are you on now, so I can explain this a bit to you?” I would say the book was my best friend. It was something that I kept referring to, and something that really stuck with me was how often she was compared to a doll. I wanted to keep that in my head a bit. When I got the script, I would then find it in the book and kind of meet in the middle of how I’d do it. There was probably like a week of me sitting in front of a mirror because the guys were already filming. I didn’t have anyone to really bounce off and play with other than my sister and my friends over FaceTime. There were lots of hours spent in the mirror playing with how I believed I was going to do it. But then you get there, and all my first scenes were with Jacob, and it just came naturally.
AF: What was that like for you, stepping onto the set for the first time and jumping into the scenes with Jacob?
Hayles: I lived my best life on my first filming day. I remember it was a night shoot. So, I got to camp around maybe five-ish when we were going to start filming two hours later. As it started getting dark, Jacob and I got in this small truck, like a little monster truck. Then, we had to go up this mountain of mud, and then up the top of it was a dugout. We were filming in this little cove, and that’s when it solidified to me, “Oh my God, what am I actually doing here?” I sent pictures to my mom showing her how crazy the set design was. There was fake snow, and there was real fire. In the scene, I would have to run up, jump over the lake, and come back down. Filming it was so much fun, but adjusting to the lenses was something that was very difficult on the first day because everything’s kind of static, and it was a night shoot. I kept slipping on props on the floor, and I just wouldn’t see them. You learn over time to change your eye focus to make it broad, but I really loved filming that day. It was the best day.
AF: You mentioned that you were reading the books along with the scripts. How do you remove that knowledge of the outcome for Claudia?
Hayles: What Rolin did that worked for me was that they didn’t want to overwhelm me, but I was kind of excited, and I wanted as much information as possible. When I would finish one episode, I’d get the next script. I knew what was in the book, but I didn’t know how they were going to change it in the show. It was kind of fun to know but also not know how it’s going to be done because the writing is so good on this show that they would find a way to a twist of some sort that you wouldn’t expect.
AF: Can you talk a bit about the preparation to play Baby Lou? Did you have much rehearsal time?
Hayles: While I was filming, Suzanne [Andrade] and Esme [Appleton] were making Baby Lou, so if I had a night shoot, I would go to rehearsals in the morning. They’d find small pockets of time before filming where I’d go to the warehouse and practice, and practice. It was literally the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my life.
When I would do it, I’d film it, sleep the next day in the morning, and be up in the mirror doing it again. It was one of those things where I felt like I was on a secret mission because everybody else started work later in the day, and I was learning this dance that no one knew anything about.
The whole sequence was a live theater piece. We had extras from Prague sitting in, and they were different every day, so it was like they were getting a show as well. I liked that element of it because it added a little bit more pressure to me, and I think I work well under pressure, so I knew I had to make it good and not feel it out. Just do it.
AF: How did having a live audience also impact shooting the trial scene?
Hayles: I loved that it added more pressure. Also, with the lenses as well, you can’t fully see everybody because the stage lights are on you, but they’re there, and you are hearing their reactions to what’s going on, and it helped me to be immersed in the piece. I found a lot more hatred as Claudia for everybody in that room.
AF: It’s such a theatrical sequence, and there are so many wonderful performances from the cast. What was it like to shoot with most of the main cast all together on the stage?
Hayles: I mean, Ben [Daniels], Jacob [Anderson], and Sam [Reid]. I was watching an acting masterclass happening in front of me. I was kind of in awe of them all and how they find their characters. The chemistry that Jacob and Sam share is something that is just between them, and it’s so wholesome, and you can see the support for each other. But watching them go through the pain of the trial helped me as well as Claudia because it felt like they had this thing, and Claudia is being pushed outside again.
I learned a lot of lessons filming it. It was very heavy for me. I felt a lot of pressure leading up to filming it, and when it was done, sitting with this emptiness in a way where I was coming down off such high emotions and not good high emotions. It was a lot, but I enjoyed it, and coming away and seeing the episode and seeing how much effort everybody put into every second of every scene, and not just the actors, I could have cried. It really came together. It’s one of those things where obviously I’ve never done something of this scale, and there are so many departments to make this thing happen. It’s something so beautiful in a way, project-wise, but story-wise, very painful, but worth the pain to tell the story.
AF: Did you find it difficult to separate from Claudia during filming?
Hayles: That was something that I did struggle with. When we got to her death scene, it was extremely hard for me because I loved the character so much. It’s one of the saddest things to read on paper. Seeing it play out is another element. It’s beautifully sad, and I really enjoy sad things, but I struggled with disconnecting from Claudia afterwards. It’s a gradual thing, and it was a process that I’ve learned, and I’m thankful for her wholeheartedly.
AF: The question is whether that’s the last we’ve seen of Claudia.
Hayles: I hope it’s not the last we’ve seen of her, but you know, we never know.