What Do I Have to Do to Convince You to Watch ‘Interview with the Vampire’?

The good news first: the superb Interview with the Vampire has, as of this week, been renewed for a third season. Showrunner Rolin Jones will have a chance to continue unfurling this savvy adaptation of the most well-known vampire story post-Dracula. It’s a gorgeous bit of gothic storytelling that manages to sprawl over the course of a century while maintaining a tight focus on the central relationships within it. What’s the bad news? Hardly anyone is watching it.

Personally, I’ve seen an uptick of people in certain online spaces, namely Twitter (now X) and TikTok, championing the series; rightfully so, as the show has been near-perfection since it first premiered back in the fall of 2022 but word-of-mouth—combined with amusing Lestat (Sam Reid) fan edits displaying his menacing flamboyancy—has allowed knowledge of the show’s existence to spread. These days, however, word-of-mouth is rarely enough to move the dial, especially when one considers the speed with which network and streaming execs pull the plug these days (the halcyon days of shows spending a season or two finding their legs are well behind us now). Obtaining viewership numbers on any given streamer is like trying to count sand on the beach, but from what I can tell, audience numbers for Interview tops out in the low thousands. At this point, it’s a miracle that a third season has been greenlit, though that probably has less to do with divine intervention than the undoubtedly substantial investment AMC has put into the world of Anne Rice considering the network purchased the rights to eighteen of her novels (per the official AMC press release).

Much like the average car salesperson’s “so what do I have to do to put you into this car?” pitch, what do I have to convince you to watch this series? Maybe I need to slap the hood and tell you that you wouldn’t believe how many sexy vampires I can fit into this thing. They come in a wide variety, too. There’s Jacob Anderson’s Louis, who vacillates between fragile and surly, and gets the lion’s share of the quotable lines (“Clothes off, face down in the coffin,” nearly made me collapse onto the floor, reader). Assad Zaman as Armand has been a wonder, as his angelic looks has belied a fractured, and terrifying at times, inner nature. As for the aforementioned Sam Reid, it’s a phrase used often enough that it’s easy to overlook its sincerity, but the man was born to play Lestat.

Not that anyone in the cast is lacking when it comes to their performance. Eric Bogosian as journalist Daniel Molloy, a role that has benefited greatly from this adaptation’s many departures from the source material, occupies a wonderful space as both antagonist and confidante. His animosity for his subjects is genuine but the air of exhaustion and defeat that Bogosian gives off suggests there’s more than a good chance that much of his bitterness is self-directed. There’s also the matter of Claudia, portrayed in season one by Bailey Bass and then recast in season two with Delainey Hayles—Bass’ exact reason for her departure is unknown, though many suspect her involvement with the labor-intensive Avatar film series has something to do with it. Admittedly, it took an episode to adjust to the cast change, an effect that speaks only to the strength of Bass’ contribution to the role. It doesn’t take long for Hayles to fully occupy the role, however, and by the time the penultimate episode aired—her enraged, “Can I cry and say ‘I’m sorry’ too?” forced me to press pause, that’s how effective that single button condemnation of domestic abuse was—it was hard to believe she hadn’t been there since the series’ inception.

I know that I’ve spoken freely about having an agenda, but the truth is that there’s next to no flaws to be found here. Perhaps the most harsh critique I can devise is that the first episode or two of the latest season felt a tad sleepy, at least when it wasn’t basking in its horror roots. But even when it’s at its creepiest, Interview can bring a measure of levity, like the moment that Louis, alongside Claudia, witnesses a revenant wreaking havoc on a few unlucky men: “No, I’m a vampire. That’s a f*cking catfish with teeth.”

Many people would say that the lower viewership mostly has to do with the fact that AMC+ is among the lowest tier when it comes to streaming service wars. Maybe I’m not supposed to say this, but if you cancel one of your current subscriptions—unless you’re a parent of young children or in the middle of The Acolyte, is Disney+ doing that much for you right now?—it makes it a little more financially accessible to give another streamer a shot. You can do far worse than the one that has what’s arguably the best television show currently on air. As an admitted fan, I’m exceedingly grateful that this splendid work of art is able to continue telling this dark tale of obsession, unreliable memory, love, and grief. I only hope that the audience it deserves finally shows up to watch it.

The second season finale airs this Sunday, June 30th, on AMC and AMC+.

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor for Pajiba. She can be found on Bluesky here.