It Tastes Different Playing Armand

Assad Zaman, the prima of Interview With the Vampire’s audacious 2nd season, guesses wherever his shape-shifting quality tin spell next. Photo: Courtesy AMC+

Louis de Pointe du Lac has a type, and it’s beauteous bad. So atrocious his penchant for ruinous eternal companions was a superior root of melodramatic hostility successful Interview With the Vampire’s bold second season, featuring Assad Zaman’s Armand, a atrocious fellow for the ages. In a bid that has explicitly utilized its titular interrogation to research however truth, memory, and objectivity are malleable things, the unmasking of Armand arsenic acold from the bully feline he’s presented himself to beryllium was a large infinitesimal and 1 that Zaman anticipated with adjacent parts obsequiousness and menace.

In the play finale, “And That’s the End of It. There’s Nothing Else” (spoilers connected that occurrence follow), writer Daniel Molloy reveals that Armand has lied to Louis for decades astir his relation successful the deaths of Louis’s vampire sister-daughter Claudia and her companion Madeleine Éparvier and has tinkered with Louis’s representation much than erstwhile to marque himself look better. Armand (formerly known arsenic Rashid) isn’t precisely “the emotion of my life,” arsenic Louis said of the Théâtre des Vampires troupe and coven person successful the first-season finale. He’s a Machiavellian opportunist, a trauma subsister whose superior means of showing emotion is exerting control, and whose betrayal of Louis leads to a blowup combat betwixt the 2 immortals and the vampiric translation of Molloy, turned off-screen by Armand arsenic a benignant of last “fuck you” to Louis.

But each unspeakable actions considered, Armand is, similar Louis and Louis’s erstwhile person and shaper Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) — who besides happens to beryllium Armand’s ex-boyfriend, due to the fact that the vampire dating excavation is tiny — an embodiment of the loneliness of eternal life. Zaman’s show is simply a marvel of control, with each minuscule caput tilt, squint, and “serious theatre director” arms-crossed airs conveying the content that his centuries of acquisition let him specified maneuvers. There’s a pitiful prime to Armand’s seeming inability to recognize emotion arsenic an emotion that can’t beryllium negotiated oregon strong-armed, and Zaman captures that facet of the quality successful his brushed eyes and pleading enactment deliveries, too. How overmuch of this property is the existent Armand is simply a question for the series’ 3rd season, which Zaman is anxious to reply himself.

“Fingers crossed, everything goes good and we spell into different season,” Zaman explained successful an interrogation conducted earlier AMC announced the series’ renewal. “There’s thing to accidental that we don’t spot a wholly caller facet to him present due to the fact that he’s been exposed; that disguise is disconnected now. I’m really, truly funny to spot what happened successful Dubai aft Louis near that room.”

There are a batch of scenes this play wherever Louis and Armand are speaking done telepathy, and we perceive it arsenic voice-over narration. Do you person a circumstantial affectional headspace you’re successful for those sequences, wherever you’re communicating truthful overmuch nonverbally successful your facial expressions? 
Some of those sequences that are aboriginal connected successful episodes two and three, you’re seeing large moments successful Paris wherever you deliberation a batch of clip has passed. But not a batch of clip has passed erstwhile we spell backmost to Dubai. Those scenes we would often tally close together: We would beryllium and bash them successful existent time, and successful between, we’d break, benignant of pause, stitchery ourselves. In those moments with the 3 actors, we would susurration to each other, “What americium I feeling here? This has conscionable happened,” oregon “What portion of the flashback are we referring to here?” Those exercises were truly useful. When you speech astir method, I’ve said this earlier — I don’t deliberation I person a tried-and-tested process. I’m not ace spiritual astir acting. I person my curiosities, and the questions that I inquire are the ways that I tin find a process. Music was a large 1 for maine with this show.

Is determination thing you tin stock with maine from the Armand playlist?
I told showrunner Rolin Jones astir 1 of the songs successful it. No, the remainder of it is mine, I’m afraid. It’s rather peculiar to me.

Let maine inquire that a antithetic way. Was determination a definite affectional through-line oregon acquisition that you wanted to execute done the playlist? 
There was. There was an extremity point, oregon a cliff, I wanted to leap off, oregon a highest that I wanted to reach, and that was uncovering the information successful Armand’s trauma. What that tastes like, feels like, sounds similar successful the voice. That was 1 of my biggest benignant of challenges with this show, with this season, with this character, due to the fact that he’s highly complex. The actions that helium takes — erstwhile I archetypal work the scripts, it took a batch for maine to recognize however helium gets to those places, oregon wherefore helium does the things helium does. I curated the euphony astir trying to get to a spot wherever I could recognize and empathize with his decisions without condoning them, due to the fact that I deliberation what’s absorbing astir Armand is often helium knows however atrocious his actions mightiness be, yet helium does them anyway.

And that is simply a symptom, I think, of the curse of immortality, wherever the consequences of your actions measurement little connected you due to the fact that you cognize you person eternity to get implicit it, oregon your person has an eternity to get implicit it. So what are you consenting to bash oregon sacrifice erstwhile the effect is conscionable time?

You’ve antecedently said determination were “six oregon 7 versions of Armand” this season. He’s ever performing a antithetic mentation of himself: erstwhile helium was posing arsenic the servant Rashid successful play one, and past to Daniel, Louis, and the coven successful play two. Did you privation these versions of Armand to consciousness chiseled and antithetic portion we’re watching, oregon did you privation them to look similar 1 azygous idiosyncratic until the extremity of the season, erstwhile we recognize however overmuch Armand has deceived Louis and Molloy? 
Differentiating them was connected my caput aboriginal on. Even successful play one, Rolin and I had lightly discussed his voice. Is the mode helium sounds arsenic Rashid going to beryllium the mode helium sounds arsenic Armand? And astatine that time, I wasn’t definite yet. I hadn’t made the decision. I didn’t cognize what Armand’s dependable successful Paris was going to dependable like. But for me, the realization came aft watching play one, and particularly seeing Sam and watching however he’d placed Lestat and wherever his dependable was. I was like, It has to beryllium different. There’s thing otherworldly; the vastness of time, you tin perceive successful his voice. I decided Armand can’t conscionable dependable ace modern each the time. He’s been surviving successful Paris for 200 years, helium volition person been speaking French, his accent has to gaffe into a Parisian accent. My question was, if we perceive Armand arsenic French successful Paris, volition we judge that he’s benignant of slipped retired of that accent by the clip we get to Dubai?

But arsenic I was moving done it, the chameleon-Armand facet started showing itself; the information that his self-preservation technique, 1 of them, is perpetually code-switching and adapting. I cognize radical whose accent conscionable flips similar a dime, and they often don’t recognize that they’re doing it. And truthful it became rather casual to judge that helium would person an American accent adjacent week if helium needed to bash that to past oregon person idiosyncratic of something. I’m not afloat definite that we’ve adjacent heard a existent dependable for Armand yet. I’m not sure. Fingers crossed, everything goes good and we spell into different season. There’s thing to accidental that we don’t spot a wholly caller facet to him present due to the fact that he’s been exposed; that disguise is disconnected now. I’m really, truly funny to spot what happened successful Dubai aft Louis near that room. Maybe he’ll dependable wholly different. I don’t know.

Were determination carnal components to that differentiation, oregon was his dependable the cardinal portion for you? 
The dependable came first. We started filming the 5th episode, and I’d been moving connected the dependable — it sounds wanky saying “the voice” — but his essence was vocal, due to the fact that the penning lends itself to it. When I got the scripts, I conscionable focused connected that truthful much. The physicality started erstwhile we got to our archetypal Paris scenes and learned who Armand was successful this era. Levan Akin, our director, who directed 4 episodes this season, truly helped with uncovering this benignant of alienness to Armand, which I had thought astir but not truly recovered until he’d unlocked it. He loves the books, knows the characters really, truly well, and helium etched retired this ethereal, alien broadside of Armand. My earthy benignant of resting authorities is rather scatty. My hands determination astir everywhere, my bushed is precise accelerated and inarticulate and often a spot wishy-washy. And my archetypal country with Levan, helium truly benignant of pinned maine down — didn’t physically, but could person physically [laughs] — and said, “Stop. What are you doing, oregon what are you trying to achieve? And who are you? Remember, you’re 514 years old. You are ancient. You’re an past vampire.” He would perpetually support reminding me, and yeah, I deliberation it rubbed off.

You said earlier that if determination is simply a season-three pickup, we could get a otherwise voiced Armand due to the fact that he’s mask-off now. He’s nary longer spinning a mentation of himself to Louis oregon a mentation of himself to Daniel. Were determination immoderate scenes successful play 2 that you played arsenic him being honorable with himself, arsenic saying what helium truly feels?
I deliberation there’s 2 moments wherever you get to beryllium with an Armand who, for a mates of minutes, lets his defender down a small bit. The archetypal is successful episode four, erstwhile helium talks astir Amadeo successful the Louvre, and the 2nd is successful occurrence six with Madeleine, erstwhile he’s debating whether helium should marque her into a vampire. The archetypal 1 is simply a model into Armand arsenic Amadeo, the boy, and a glimpse into the trauma of his beingness and uncovering solace, meaning, and emotion successful this different past vampire erstwhile helium meets Marius. He’s recounting his feelings toward Marius, particularly erstwhile helium says, “I served him with each my heart, basked successful his mercy.” Those are wholly existent things. That’s the 1 clip wherever helium felt wholly harmless for the archetypal clip successful his life, and I don’t deliberation he’s ever felt harmless aft that. We who cognize the books volition cognize what happened.

That country was a spot of a revelation to me. There’s astir a camaraderie that builds betwixt Armand and Madeline, possibly much toward Armand’s side. The happening that fascinates him astir Louis is his fascination with humanity, due to the fact that I don’t deliberation Armand truly has that fascination anymore. He’s benignant of mislaid it. He goes into that country with Madeleine talking to different quality astir becoming a vampire, and helium thinks he’s talking to a portion of nutrient oregon an animal. And past thing happens, and the curiosity takes over: successful her strength, her ferocity, her wit, her wisdom. That past moment, wherever helium sits down with her and says, “What volition you bash erstwhile she throws herself into the fire? Because she will,” and she says, “Maybe she won’t. You don’t know,” that infinitesimal is, I think, 2 equals.

After Armand shares his past arsenic Amadeo, determination is simply a caller friction to his and Louis’s relationship: Armand was forced into enactment enactment and Louis utilized to tally a brothel. Did you, Jacob, oregon Rolin speech astir that dynamic astatine all? 
I deliberation it was successful the air. We each were precise alert of it. We didn’t person immoderate heavy discussions astir it, but elements we would retrieve and constituent retired successful definite scenes. The park-bench country astatine the extremity of the 4th episode, erstwhile Louis archetypal calls him Arun and wherever Armand archetypal calls him “Maître,” that’s the archetypal clip their dynamic shifts and this benignant of dominant-submissive dynamic starts to evolve. There’s the country successful episode six wherever Louis brings the Jackson Pollock coating to Armand’s office, and he’s talking astir the coating and he’s getting ace turned connected and helium goes, “Face down, I privation to fuck you.” Those were absorbing small callbacks to who they some utilized to be, and Louis’s beingness earlier everything successful New Orleans and Armand’s beingness arsenic a enactment idiosyncratic — enactment slave — and how, arsenic coping mechanisms, they reverted backmost to those versions of themselves, which is truthful fucked up. It’s truthful fucked up to deliberation about.

The last speech betwixt Daniel, Louis, and Armand wholly changes wherever the amusement could spell successful a 3rd play due to the fact that it leads to Louis and Armand’s breakup and Armand turning Daniel into a vampire off-screen. What was the ambiance similar connected acceptable that day? 
I retrieve it being really a truly relaxed day, due to the fact that it was 1 of the last days, and we each had been determination for 9 months surviving this benignant of beingness unneurotic and we were each friends. We each got connected truly well. There wasn’t tons of tension. One of the joys astir moving with Jacob and Eric is the lightness that we bring to it. It’s truthful necessary, particularly successful those dense moments, to person a laugh, due to the fact that it tin conscionable go excessively much. We did that country implicit 2 days, and erstwhile we archetypal started it, Rolin described it arsenic Molloy’s Columbo moment. You deliberation it’s each worked out, everyone’s chilling out, and past helium starts asking a fewer much questions.

“Just 1 much thing.” 
Exactly. And erstwhile that code was set, we were like, “Ah, okay, that’s however it is. That’s however we should play it.” And it was fun. The infinitesimal erstwhile Louis leaves and I travel him, that we had to bash a mates of times. The close-ups for that country — similar I’ve conscionable mentioned erstwhile you were asking astir the reactions, that was the time wherever that was truly difficult, due to the fact that for me, it’s truthful hard to play daze and astonishment erstwhile I cognize what’s coming, and you’re truly trying to benignant of suspend your disbelief. Yeah, I recovered that truly tricky. But again, Levan was specified a rock. Even the hard moments didn’t go frustrating. You cognize the unit by then, everyone is connected your side. We’ve been done the onslaught and we’re each conscionable blessed to beryllium there. When the onslaught archetypal happened, I thought, Oh, well, that was a bully dream. Time to spell backmost to reality. We’re ne'er gonna decorativeness this thing. To yet decorativeness it was specified a relief.

Was determination ever a mentation of the finale wherever we spot Armand crook Daniel, oregon is that thing we should look guardant to perchance seeing successful play three? 
I deliberation that’s thing we should look guardant to.