The Vampire Lestat (2022) s02e02 Episode Script

Perused a few
folklore anthologies,
and now you're going
to cross the ocean
and take on a
society of monsters.
I've known exactly four
vampires in my life,
and you've all been the worst.
I'm looking for one that
ain't a goddamn bastard!
Parents named me Bruce.
Sent about 20 of us over to
a place called Copenhagen.
Louis: Don't start
back with your books.
- Your books are bullshit.
- There's a vampire been here.
Another crucifix.
Claudia: Louis!
A woman vampire.
Armand: The boy we met
in San Francisco
he's still in there.
We can have him saying
what happened next in no time.
We're gonna find others like us.
We can't be the only
good ones out there.
Paris Hard to put
it into words now.
For what Paris
means to me now is
very different from what
it meant to me then.
- May I try?
- Please.
Paris was an
awakening for Louis.
Paris was a hunger.
Paris was many
things in those days.
Even now, to think of it,
setting aside certain events,
I feel something close to
happiness when I think of it.
- The name alone - Paris.
- Paris sucks.
But you proposed to
your Alice in Paris.
And she divorced me in
Staten Island. Paris sucks.
Paris is a universe
all to herself
Macarons are bullshit,
café culture is boring.
Paris was Nazi scar
tissue at the time.
It was healing, just as
Claudia and I were healing.
Gotta pick twice the pockets
in this town to get anywhere.
"Confiance en vaut plusieurs
si on prend du temps
pour la trouver."
- What?
- "Truth is more valuable
if it takes you a few
years to find it."
What you said is,
"Trust is worth several
if we take a few
years to find it."
A little rust on
the mother tongue.
Lotta rust. And I'm looking
for francs and diamonds.
- Truth don't pay the rent.
- No salt, no butter.
Can't have milk unless
you got a newborn.
And read here, "Hospitals
running low on plaster of Paris
for a record number of broken
bones due to decalcification
and undernourishment." You
want francs in pockets?
These people are broke.
Maybe we chose the wrong town.
I saw a woman tonight in a
patchy five-year-old dress
putting on a brand new lipstick.
And what's that supposed to say?
Says Paris is on her way back.
Give her a little time is all.
What makes you think
Paris is a woman?
- Oh, now I know you're hungry.
- Tell me what a woman is?
I'll tell you what a woman is.
Where you want to hunt?
Bourse looks dark.
Always following the
blackouts. Blackouts are easy.
Mmm. So you want a hard
meal, francs and diamonds,
and heaven to open up and rain
down mink stoles, is that it?
That's a start.
It's custom and practice
for traveling vampires
to make themselves known
- to a local coven.
- Gauche.
We didn't get that memo.
De Gaulle's Paris
had me etherized.
Ah! The whitest of lies
turning 77 this year.
Do not leave Dubai until
you've made him retract it.
Uh-huh.
If Claudia and I were looking
over our shoulder at all
it was in astonishment
our skin did not attract
the same attention
it did in America.
Right, because there
wasn't any racism
in mid-20th century France.
- Oh, I didn't say that.
- He didn't say that.
I think your Algerian inferiors
- of the time might disagree.
- But I wasn't an Algerian.
I was an American and if
there was an assumption
that I'd arrived to blow a
trumpet or sing for my supper,
it did not register as
a slight in those days.
I was just grateful knowing
no one wanted to lynch me
or direct me to the far
end of the café counter.
That's all he was
saying, Mr. Molloy.
Are you two gonna finish
each other's sentences
for the whole session?
We've been together
77 years, Daniel.
Forty-seven more than
he did with Lestat.
Shall we let the math of that
settle before continuing?
Keep selling it.
We hid ourselves away
in an inconspicuous
apartment in Le Neuvieme,
passing ourselves off
as moneyed Americans,
over-spending for
black market baguettes.
It was the perfect cover.
Yes, perfectly situated,
one floor above the owners,
and one floor below the
students and sex workers.
Literally encircled by curious
and money-hungry motivations.
We never brought
our kills home.
- We used the sewers for that.
- Mm-hm.
Waterways of which
they had no expertise.
The flow controls,
the pumping stations.
We were constantly
cleaning up for them.
And yet you never
made contact with him?
Thank you! Five
months of anxiety
producing choices
and not one "bonjour"
- or "preparez-toi a mourir".
- Custom and practice.
A true Parisian vampire
is a prideful monster.
They lived two kilometers
from our theater in Pigalle.
I had endured
hundreds of nights
in the theater with Lestat.
I was not seeking more.
A theater called
Theatre Des Vampires.
A company that had been in
existence for 150 years!
77 years and it still
feels like a slight.
Pride.
The reports were confounding.
Were they romantic? No.
Who was the master?
Neither, it seemed.
The male hunted to please
her, the girl suffered
philosophical conversation
to please him.
The American vampires appeared
to be as dull and plain
as their tourists
and soldiers were.
Rude.
I took up photography
as a hobby.
Vampires with
hobbies! Insanity!
Killing time when you
weren't killing Parisians.
Oh, wrestling time
to the ground,
staring it into submission.
Holding it in your hand. "I
was there. This occurred."
How's that any different
from the photos
- I keep on my phone?
- It isn't.
It's a human
perspective of time.
When you have the ability
to stretch a millisecond
into an hour,
it's a reduction.
I hadn't come to
that conclusion yet.
I liked taking photographs.
It took my mind off things.
What are you looking for
when you take a picture?
I don't know. A
surprise maybe.
Something off. Like a hat
that's too small for a head.
Or someone realizing they
forgot to do something
- and they stop.
- Okay.
Then you can get
mindful about it.
Ask yourself what
brought them here?
What brought you here? Is
it coming together random?
Choreographed? The metro
late for him. The rain
Sometimes I want
the short answer.
You listen to their thoughts.
You know what's coming.
You take the picture.
Well, if you knew the
answer, why did you ask?
Is the coming together
random, choreographed?
Let a brother primp a bit. Let
me think I'm deeper than I am.
Is that how you sell
yourself yourself?
I'm just trying to get
through nights, sis.
I shortcut it. You caught me.
Take the win.
Who are you, Louis?
I'm your brother.
Who are you outside of me?
I'm the reticent vampire of
the Ninth Arrondissement.
I walk the night
capturing disappointment
and regret
as only the reticent
vampire can.
Hah!
If there was no me
and there was no him
who would you be?
What do you want?
How are you gonna get there?
She had a point.
- Yes.
- Paris sucks.
That's not the point
she was making.
Sure it is. She's miserable
but she doesn't want to fuck
with your too delusional
"left bank dilettante" vibe.
She wasn't telling me something
I didn't know about myself.
She was giving me permission to
explore a life apart from her.
- It's Alice, Louis, not Claudia.
- Excuse me?
Oh, I see. I've
triggered a memory.
No, it's Claudia.
It's her journal.
- "Louis needs Paris. I don't"
- It's 1985.
You and Alice are
at a brasserie,
talking past each other
and she tells you
she's pregnant.
The fishing rod
in the head again?
And you say, "Yeah,
let's talk about
it later tonight."
I've gotta knock out
another chapter. One a week.
I leave before the bill is
paid, I never finish the novel.
I think it was the "yeah" that
pissed her off most. Yeah?
Yeah.
"Louis needs Paris.
I don't know what I need.
Maybe a new brain in my head.
Why can't I tell him this?
I suppose I'm afraid my
joylessness will take away
his happiness and maybe
I don't want his feelings
to depend on mine anymore.
Maybe I want to be
joyfully joyless.
A forever switch of
wild opposites at play."
Oh!
Mademoiselle?
American? Your French is ugly.
You can take it in for me. Yes?
You do alterations?
Please, don't pretend to be
something you're not, yeah?
Believe me, womanhood
will happen soon enough.
Never thought about
choosing to pretend.
Life hasn't been kind
enough to allow me that.
Maybe if it had been, I'd
be a lonely dressmaker
in an empty shop, denying
my only potential customer.
Respect my time.
No!
The dress, for my body.
And I'll need some gloves.
I'm thinking white.
Real Rashid. Just in time
for the big "meet cute".
What weirdness have
you brought us today?
The Paris Albums, 1946-1949.
Oh, you really
shouldn't wear gloves
when handling historical
documents, Real Rashid.
- It reduces dexterity.
- It's just Rashid.
Makes it more likely
you'll rip a page
in the item being examined.
Thank you, Rashid.
So?
Photos are the record
of time passing.
- Outward evidence.
- They do not lie,
but neither do they tell
you a thorough story.
Who are the young men? Vampires?
Those were our young friends.
Humans. Guys.
Some are very old
now, most are dead.
And some we simply
drained for sport. Well
generally me.
Louis has his ways.
You could tell from his
walk, he was an American.
I'm an American. What
exactly is an American walk?
Two wars had made a
certain impression
on the men of France.
There was no way to describe
it other than optimistic.
There was a park
I'd heard about.
I would go to this park often.
I was an armored
thing that spring,
someone steady on
his feet but
With a history of chasing
the wrong kind of love.
I'll describe it
myself, thank you.
Yes.
But with a history of chasing
the wrong kind of love.
Well, where better to
explore who you are,
to find the right kind of
love, than in a public park?
I had lost patience.
I was convinced we
were being toyed with
and I could hold back
the coven only so long.
I knew the park well myself,
knew what went on in
the rambles there,
so I was not surprised to
find him without the girl.
I would confront the
elder and make him aware
of the ways rogue vampires
were dealt with in Paris.
He looked like a boy
masquerading as a gentleman.
But I sensed his ancient
power right away.
He was awkward.
His attempt to blend
in as some layman,
thinking he could fade into
the landscape, it was absurd.
I mean
he was alarmingly handsome
in the muted lamplight.
I thought he was
going to kill me.
So?
- Yeah?
- Who broke the ice?
What were the first words
of the ancient vampire
to the future love of his life?
I will not
- Please.
- No.
Please.
He said, "I will not harm you."
And I never have.
Come.
And bring the petite
beauty with you.
You are most welcome.
Claudia!
Claudia!
Claudia!
I found someone.
Or they found me.
Found us!
Give me that. Let me see.
Five months removed
from their
velvet-heeled arrival,
the Americans were
finally coming to Pigalle.
The perfumed armpit of Paris.
Entradas. Tickets. Des billets.
Monsieur de Pointe du Lac.
Our finest seats.
The house was only half full.
A mixture of slavish devotees
and over-served tourists.
We had become amusingly passé
amongst the theater community
and found a more receptive
audience from our
Anglican friends now
invading Paris postwar.
Five out of every
seven performances
were in the King's English.
Some had been there
dozens of times.
And some couldn't care
less what was spoken.
They were all the same to us.
Cattle for our nightly sabbath.
But we were there for vampires
and we felt their numbers
in the charged air.
Places! Projections! Music!
Screams and lights.
Santiago!
Ladies and gentlemen!
Madames and messieurs!
Offal and offalesses.
To the displacement of reason.
And the excretion
of pathetic desires.
By that I mean
- Good evening.
- Good evening!
What you're about to see
is, for you, an outrage
that masks a birth and
a rebirth of what is
The rope's limp.
He's really flying.
- I know!
- Instead of mere human drama,
we here at Theatre Des Vampires,
delve into the underbelly
of the human soul,
to present to you the
highest form of art
in the lowest of ways!
Have you repressions
that need airing?
Oh, you've come to
the right place.
Phobias toward your next of kin?
Amis, we assist in
turning down the sheets!
Bloodlust?!
Fear of the insane?!
I salute your honesty.
Right after I take my
boot from your arse!
But seriously, mes amis,
being vampires, and by nature
superior to you mortals,
we can replicate the
level of bilge necessary
to disrupt your tiny ship
called human decency.
In fact, we capsize it. So, if
you don't leave here tonight
seeing the world upside down and
liking very much what you see,
and feel,
then we here at
Theatre Des Vampires,
have failed in our jobs
which is, at the heart of it,
to laugh alongside your misery
while you cry and
scream for more.
More!
Everything you're
about to see
is real.
Remember that when you
leave here tonight.
You are all
complicit
repugnant
and appalling!
And
I love you for it.
And I welcome you
even as you disgust me!
Well done! Superb! Superb!
Why does the Master have
us tend to the prized,
singular plant at night,
when the rest of the
garden is tended by day?
The actors performed in
front of a cinema screen,
interacting with
animations and bits of film
in near perfect synchronization.
The effect was wondrous.
The modern cinema had
an enormous influence
on my aesthetic and the
light of the projector
on the faces of our
actors lent a romantic air
to their performances.
The plays were weird.
The plays were timeless,
updated for the age
and all from our
150 year repertoire.
They were weird!
And always ended in death
or some kind of cruel,
barely motivated violence.
Life is cruel.
Life is violent.
Claudia absolutely loved them.
And it was the
first time in Paris
I had seen a smile or
a laugh come out of her
that wasn't for my benefit.
But what was truly
confusing that first night
were the efforts to make
it all appear as farce.
Syrup!
The fake vampire teeth,
the fake blood, the trick rope.
It was all a seduction,
to lure the cattle into a
willing belief of disbelief.
The only play that
mattered was the last.
Woodcutter!
- Woodcutter!
- Who are you?
I am what you think
I am, woodcutter.
Go away.
The clock in your heart.
The gears have stopped meshing.
Help me, someone! Please!
What is this?
She's disrupted
the performance!
No! No, no, no, no!
Let her speak,
Sam. Let her speak.
Shh, shh, shh, shh,
shh. Now, now, now, now.
This is an "English
only" performance.
Start again.
My
My name is Annika Rooman.
I live in Antwerp.
I was taken from my
hotel room last night.
These people are vampires!
True vampires!
This This is real!
- Call my husband!
- I'll call him for you, baby.
Suppose we were to let you go.
- P-Please! Y-Yes.
- Yes?
Yes.
Suppose the Reaper had a heart
that could resist
your Belgian beauty.
Someone would have
to take your place.
Your husband?
Oh?
Your son?
I I can't I
can't and I wouldn't.
How about
him?
Mmm. Mm, mm.
Oh, dear man,
whose flesh has run in every
direction from his mustache,
I want you to remember this
the next time you're in the pew,
you turn to your
neighbor and say,
"Peace be unto you."
They'll give you up
in a wink!
Not his time, Annika.
Shh, shh.
Now, now. There, there.
It must
be.
Annika Rooman of Antwerp.
Death
awaits everyone
everywhere.
Why not here?
Unconscious death is
the fate of all mortals.
Up.
Up.
Up.
We are conscious death, Annika.
And that would make you
a bride.
Do you know what it means
to be loved by death?
No pain.
No pain.
- Bravo!
- Santiago!
Bravo!
Our coven has been here since
the reign of Charlemagne
but we only became
a theater company
after Danton was guillotined.
Ah! Do I hear French from the
lips of an English company?
Ah, better, better. If you
desire to seduce on stage
you must live it off
stage! Thank you.
London was not made
overnight, Maitre.
And that is why
several Toulousian G's
pricked my ear in act four.
- Did you catch that Englishman?
- Oh, I did, Maitre.
Otherwise very committed
tonight, Madame.
- Merci.
- That goes for the entire company.
Very committed
tonight! Bravo! Brava!
Even as they wipe
their greasepaint,
as if this were
an ordinary night.
Five months of nights.
Five insolent months of nights,
waiting for you to humble
us with your appearance.
I ask you, Maitre,
was it worth the wait?
Oi!
Oh, Estelle!
The Americans are here!
Bonsoir!
Louis and Claudia.
The Theatre Des Vampires.
Fuck off!
Eglee, front of house. Romaine,
stage management, props.
- Luchenbaum, costumes.
- Stunning work.
Ah, Samuel Barclay,
playwright in residence.
Sam. Call me Sam.
Basilic, Planche,
Merde'em, the orchestra.
- Nice drumming, drums.
- Thank you.
Tuan and Quang
Pham. Projections,
scenery, swing actor.
Father and son.
They joined the
coven on an eventful
pre-century tour
of the colonies.
- Oh, the son looks
- Older than the father. Yes.
Quang here refused the dark
gift until he could be on stage.
My son is rebellious.
- English!
- Father is an asshole.
Landing us our core
acting company.
Gustave, Celeste,
Estelle and Santiago.
You were amazing.
I was, wasn't I? Love the dress.
Oh. Thank you.
Do American vampiresses
all wear pastels?
Claudia is the only
American vampiress,
so I say that's a yes.
And are all American vampires
- as alluring as you?
- Uh
No. Louis was expelled
for his beauty.
Oh, such a burden, beauty.
Who's your maker?
- My maker?
- Mmm.
Eglee here does star
charts for us all.
Night you were given the gift,
phase of the moon,
name of the maker.
- I don't really need
- D'you both have the same maker?
We did. Yeah.
His name was Bruce.
Bruce?
Is he Scottish?
He said he was from Copenhagen.
We met him on the road
just outside of
- Chicago.
- We traveled a lot.
As you do, when
the kills pile up.
We don't like to
talk about him much.
He threw himself into
a fire in front of us.
And once again, Santiago,
it seems you've missed the
vein and drawn air instead.
- Hmm!
- I got a question.
Who's that handsome man
on the wall up there?
Ah! With us in spirit always.
Our co-founder and the finest
actor ever to walk our stage.
Lestat de Lioncourt.
Should have seen that coming.
Did not see that one coming.
- Big red flag, huh?
- The biggest.
- You must understand
- Oh, I understand.
In a community as small as ours,
such crossings of immortal
paths is expected,
perhaps more common
than you would think.
And Juan looked
up at the painting
and saw that Theresa's
dead husband was Roberto.
He had eloped with
his enemy's widow.
It's a telenovela!
I mean, come on! Lestat's
painting on the wall!
Are you kidding me? Really?
Oh, and that means
That means you knew
Lestat before he did!
- Yes, Armand knew Lestat.
- Wait a minute.
And yes, he was
briefly with Lestat.
- You both fucked Lestat?!
- A hundred plus years apart.
- They were not compatible.
- He tasted like vermouth
and annihilation.
You shared a boyfriend!
This is great!
I fucked Santiago too.
And Celeste, and Estelle.
Even had an aerobic evening
with Tuan and Quang Pham
in the back row of a cinema
- watching 'Now, Voyager'.
- Did you?
It's repertory theatre,
Mr. Molloy. It's how one endures.
Lestat's appearance
is important,
just not in the way you
think it is, Daniel.
Oh, I'm done thinking.
Bring me the tequila
and some popcorn,
let's flip to channel
300-something,
it's a Univision night!
I saw his stupid face up there and
had to think of something quick.
You couldn't make up a name?
Best lies got some truth to 'em.
And that's the only
other vampire I knew.
- It's gonna be fine.
- Fine?
Yeah, fine. What about Lestat?
He's 100-something-year-old
painting in a frame.
They got a fucking shrine! What
if they find out we killed him?
- One of us would have to tell them.
- Or think it!
Well, I thought it the
second I saw his face
in the frame, but there
they were inviting us back,
- five minutes later.
- To kill us.
And right after that I
invaded their thoughts,
and not one, not one of them,
thought anything other than
I want to lick these two,
so we need to stay away
from Estelle if we can.
But they knew nothing
and they're gonna
continue knowing nothing,
cos you're gonna keep
that loose head of yours
tight because I
wanna go back, Louis.
- Are you crazy?
- What about the play?
When they all pounced
on that woman,
drained her right in
front of their dumb faces?
Tell me you did not feel pride.
- I did not feel pride.
- Yes, you did!
Past your empathy
for that woman,
past your fear of being
exposed. Vampire pride.
Those Frenchies
love being vampires.
And they shamed us because
we never felt that way
and we fucking should!
- I'm going back. I want more.
- It's not safe there!
Fourteen hapless vampires
being led by a vampire
with skin darker than yours?
What else is there to be scared
of? Other than your own lust?
- Oh, you felt my lust?
- Armand?
Oh, yeah. Felt his too.
Now I know what
two blood fat cocks
slapping hands feel like,
so thank you for that.
Take your people pictures!
Worship them in the
red light all you want!
I want to be with my own!
Don't ruin this for
me, Louis. I need this!
The coven had lifted
Claudia's spirits
but seeing Lestat's
portrait put me on edge.
I needed confirmation
of his death,
and then I remembered
his frequent money wires
came from a law firm with
an address in the Marais,
Roget & Associates.
We were very close friends.
We owned some real
estate together.
A townhouse on Royal Street
in New Orleans. Maybe
your records reflect that?
We were separated by war,
Mr. Lioncourt and myself.
I had some work in Europe.
I lost my American
passport doing that work.
I'm in the process of
Uh, I'm not here for money.
I'm here to know if
you've heard from him.
If
If he is alive, and if so
We have not heard from
Monsieur de Lioncourt
since February 1940,
when we processed several
wires for him, uh,
for a party he was throwing.
I know who you are, Monsieur.
And I know what you meant
to our cherished client,
Monsieur de Lioncourt.
You say
You said "meant".
Perhaps he is dead.
Or "sleeping". Hmm?
I have no confirmation
of his actual death,
and cannot declare him
legally dead for years,
but seeing as you are
now here in Paris,
and the fact he has made no
withdrawals from his account,
between us, it is
confirmation enough
for me to pass this box to you,
as instructed in case of, uh
Well
I have a client
arriving in 20 minutes.
You may have the office.
Hmm.
In the event that
you are reading this,
something dreadful has occurred,
which is not my own
death, but rather
the fact that we both now
exist in two different worlds.
Do not waste your life
seeking revenge on the person
or persons who did this.
Do not give them the
satisfaction of the hunt.
Let treachery eat away
at them from within.
And you
you go carry on
with your living.
Know only this, mon cher,
you are the only being I trust,
and whom I love, above
and beyond myself.
All my love belongs to you.
You are its keeper.
A veil will now forever
separate our union.
But it is a thin veil
and I am always
on the other side,
face pressed up
against your longing.
Lestat de Lioncourt.
Lestat, Lestat, Lestat.
Love of my life, or is it more
"rebound of my
life" with you two?
It's a haunting memory
Louis just shared with you.
What a comfort, your
ability to continue
pulling humor from
his pain. Cathartic.
It's a joke. It's a
joke. You serve it up.
Alice is in her third trimester.
She's steps in gum
on the corner of
- Rues Palatine and Servandoni.
- The old parlor trick.
She makes you scrape it
off with a credit card.
It's not a credit card. I have
no credit. It's a library card.
She was wearing that short
purple dress you favored.
I liked the way she walked in
it. She was confident in it.
You felt freer to hold her hand
in Paris. I wonder why that is?
Hitting the garage door, Louis.
All the crap, have at it!
You worked so hard to get that
table right in the corner,
so you could pull out the ring.
The ring! Yeah, that's good.
Just at the right
moment to surprise her.
- Which I did.
- And what did she say
when you finally asked
her to marry you?
In middle school you stole
your dad's Playboy magazines.
- Sold them at recess.
- Danny.
I'll ask for a third time.
What did Alice say when you
finally asked her to marry you?
Louis, perhaps we should
She said no.
She wanted to say yes,
but she didn't trust you.
You hadn't given
her a reason to.
Would you like to know
what she thinks of you now?
If she thinks of you
now? We could do that.
Or we could simply
return to the interview.
If you're willing to ask your
questions and then listen,
which is your job.
Yes.
Good.
So
your question.
Um
What happened next?
They invited us for a hunt.
Claudia had attended a
month of performances
and the coven felt she had
proven herself sincere.
I nodded off one night
while Santiago
was hamming it up.
Apparently, that made
me persona non grata
with the leading man.
We played follow the leader.
A slithering creature
with multiple heads,
rounding roundabouts
with ravenous intent.
Waiting for Maitre
to make the call.
When you share a victim,
as they did every
night on stage,
it's merely a taste,
an amuse-bouche.
When you travel as a pack
you take on a collective hunger.
The longer the ride, the
more intense the craving.
I am in Paris with
my Parisienne family!
Allez! Allez! Allez!
Put your camera away,
my American friend.
Be one with us.
Where are you taking us?
As far as our
petrol will take us.
Esurient hearts
beating as one.
The rumbling beast of
the moveable feast!
The estate of the
family De LaCroix.
Whilst their countrymen
clutch ration cards,
they've made quite a killing
manipulating the black markets.
Santiago.
Give us the layout,
would you, love?
Fourteen rooms. Nineteen
guests plus their hosts.
Thirteen men, eight women.
And, and Oh!
Small firearms in
the library bureau.
- Enjoy yourselves.
- Mmm!
You coming?
I ate before the
play. I'm gonna
I understand you
supplement your diet.
I feast human every other night.
It's my way.
You're not gonna?
I am now where I
most want to be.
- Nice night.
- Mmm.
Very nice.
You carry yourself well.
Merci.
I like how you withhold.
Don't know about
that. Cautious maybe.
It's alluring.
It's practiced.
I find myself thinking,
"What is in there?"
Been thinking the
same about you.
Been thinking about you often.
Tricky.
What's that?
Us.
- Yes! My word, yes!
- Mmm.
Coven life can get
labyrinthian depths of
It can be tricky.
Yes!
- She is something, your Claudia.
- A spark in the dark.
Pity she was made so young.
Imagine her in a body
equal to her mind.
She's managed through it.
Particularly skilled at
blocking her thoughts.
You must work harder on that.
Merci!
I could help you
hone that skill.
Oh, yeah?
- That'd be great.
- Good.
Because I do believe I
felt some trepidation
when the name
Lestat was uttered.
Who?
My dear American friend,
who thinks of me
often and who has
dominated my mind ever since
I laid eyes upon him
don't.
I don't know the particulars
of your acquaintance with him.
You can tell me
when you're ready.
But a few of the
coven can be volatile
and quite unforgiving
when lied to.
Shut your mind if you
hear his name again.
Also, mon ami,
may I suggest you never visit
Roget, Abert & Associates again.
That sort of enquiry can
open all sorts of trouble.
As you suggest, Maitre.
Armand.
"Maitre" is a coven endearment.
Come on, people, come on!
Armand for you.
Caught a lively one
for tomorrow's show.
- Pip's a savage!
- Oh, Louis! I see it now!
It's different here! I love it!
I never want to hunt alone
again! I never want to leave!
Je vous aime tous!
J'adore être une vampire!
In English!
I love everybody and everything
in this every moment,
right every now!
I felt his presence
before I saw him.
And here he was.
Man #2: We might be
having a good time now,
but there's danger if
they find out we lied.
How do you get them
to accept death?
The great conversion.
It's real.
Aah! To hell with you!
How long are we going
to play games, Louis?
"Do you know what it means
to be loved by death?"
is something that
No pain.
Santiago says to
his victims on stage
as he basically lulls
them into their death.
So all of a sudden,
we're in Paris
and we're in exciting
post-war Paris.
There's a certain
intellectual fervor
that is taking over
this particular city.
Paris is everything that
Claudia's been waiting for.
I love getting old baguettes,
and, like, Louis,
wearing this little scarf
is what Louis imagines
French people wear.
I'm the reticent
vampire of the night
there on the east.
I don't think Louis
is really playing
at stereotypes of
an American tourist.
I think he is that.
He's living it.
He is the stereotype
of an American tourist.
What do you want?
How are you going to get there?
There's some giddiness there,
and there's some humor
that they haven't had.
Certainly not since
they killed Lestat.
Our finest seats.
O'Byrne: And then they get
to meet these vampires.
And this is really the thing
that Claudia has been
desperately seeking.
And in Armand, we have someone
that is really
intriguing to Louis.
So both of them
are over the moon.
You learn when they
go to the theater
and they meet the coven,
Claudia is someone
that needs community.
Louis is someone that needs to
know that community is there,
but to be away from it
a lot.
Welcome to "The
Displacement of Reason".
What sold Prague to us as a
shooting location for Paris
was not the physical Prague,
which is one of the most
beautiful cities in the world
and can recreate Paris
in many, many ways.
It was this huge factory
we walked into looking
for the vampire theater.
The Americans are here.
And almost
immediately, I just saw
the sparkle on Marla
LePere-Schloop's eyes,
and our production designers,
and we said, "Okay, we're home."
This is where we need to be.
It's just spectacular.
That was a key factor
that brought us to Prague,
was landing this location
and understanding
how vital that was going
to be to season two.
The prospect of getting
to work on a TV show
where there's a theater company
was just too
exciting to pass up,
and we wanted to have an
exciting leading man, Santiago.
So we got the great Ben Daniels.
We here at Teatres de Vampires
delve into the underbelly
of the human soul.
Anderson: Santiago
and the whole coven
it's like a breath of fresh air.
It's like this new mischievous
energy that comes into the show.
Hayles: This is what
she's been waiting for.
And she envisions a family
with these coven members,
just living her best
life, eating people.
Johnson: Santiago is
certainly the most theatrical
of everybody in the
vampire theater.
Everything you're
about to see
Johnson: He thinks
he's Laurence Olivier.
Is real
Johnson: But he
is mesmerizing,
and he is captivating.
And appalling!
Johnson: And the
audience loves him.
I love you for it.
And Claudia immediately
falls in love
with what he represents and
wants to be a part of it.
Santiago: No, no,
no, no, no, no.
Let her speak, sir.
I'd like to point out,
also, just a little aside,
that the woman who plays
Annika, the first victim we see,
is actually our
director's assistant.
We found out that she is an
actress, a very good actress,
and primarily an actress.
Sinead, who played the woman,
she was very, very good
at being terrified.
It was very upsetting to see
because it was like all of her
in her entirety.
But for Claudia, I think
Claudia fully was like,
"Where are the
stairs to the stage?
Like, get me on
there right now."
Up.
Johnson: It was just
so funny to be working
alongside the set
next to somebody
who all of a sudden is on stage
being devoured by Santiago
and later the rest
of the company.
And it's brutal and beautiful
and just so theatrical
and so brilliant.
Bravo!
Anderson: There's, like, 14
vampires now on the show.
And I was like, "Wow,
this is intense.
This is like a new thing."
And they all had
relationships already,
and they've been rehearsing
and they've been, like,
shooting these plays.
It was really helpful
for me personally to walk
into this whole
world of vampires.
It was, like, unfamiliar
and different as well
to what we established
in season one,
but also just,
like, a very funny,
very lovely group of people.
I ask you now was
it worth the wait?
Malloy is finally
getting his footing
when it comes to how
to deal with the fact
that there are now two
vampires instead of one.
Are you two going to finish
each other's sentences
for the whole session?
We've been together
77 years, Daniel.
What was fun was realizing
that we'd spent
all of season one
with Rashid lingering
in the background.
You're lingering, Rashid.
It was fun for me to see, like,
little things that Assad was
doing in season one as Rashid,
where you can see him under it
What do you think will
happen to Mr. du Lac
when you publish this book?
I love working with Assad.
He's so intense and it's
wonderful to play against.
It's really fun.
She wanted to say yes,
but she didn't trust you.
You hadn't given
her a reason to.
Zaman: It's not Malloy's
fault that he's here.
He was brought here by Louis.
But now that he is
here and he's prying,
Armand has to preserve
their relationship
and their history together.
If you're willing to ask your
questions and then listen.
It becomes a battle of wits.
What happened next?
O'Byrne: And we have this
phenomenal scene in front of this
we always called it
the Murder Mansion.
It's described
exactly how we see it.
They arrive, and
then Louis and Armand
have this wonderful flirtation.
- Enjoy yourselves.
- Mmm.
That might have been one of
the best days of my life.
It was It was Honestly,
it was just adults playing.
You coming?
A hit before the play?
Hayles: What I really
liked about Levan's
direction in this is that
when we got in the mansion,
it was like, "You're
vampires. Go have fun.
Be vampires."
Zaman: The chaos
in the background
and vintage noir romance
happening in the foreground.
She's something, your Claudia.
Spark in the dark.
The thing that I remember
most about filming the
Murder Mansion scene
was that it's like
"Ah! Ah!"
Just, like, all this madness
happening behind him.
You must work harder on that.
And every single time
something smashed or popped,
I was like just jumping.
You're not going in?
I am now where I
most want to be.
But somehow,
Assad just managed to, like
just very focused
and didn't flinch.