Bailey Bass has been cast as Claudia in the upcoming Interview with the Vampire TV series. Based on the 1976 novel of the same name, Interview with the Vampire is the first installment of Anne Rice’s bestselling series, The Vampire Chronicles. A Neil Jordan-helmed film adaptation was released in 1994 starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and an eleven-year-old Kirsten Dunst as Claudia. 2002 saw the release of another adaptation of an Anne Rice book, The Queen of the Damned, with Stuart Townsend taking over Cruise’s role as Lestat.
Interview with the Vampire introduces audiences to Lestat, a vampire who bites Louis, a wealthy plantation owner, in late 18th century New Orleans. Lestat later turns a young girl, Claudia, into a vampire, and the three become travel companions. As the title suggests, the film unfolds via an interview with Louis as he talks with a modern-day reporter.
Now Bailey Bass has been tapped to play Claudia in the forthcoming AMC series, Variety reports. Bass will soon star in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels as well, having secured the role of Tsireya. The young actress took to Instagram to confirm the casting announcement. “PINCH ME!!” the caption reads. “Beyond excited to play Claudia and join the Interview with the Vampire family.”
The newest Interview with the Vampire adaptation was announced in June and will premiere as an 8-part series in 2022. Bass is the third major cast announcement for the series, rounding out the show’s key players. Game of Thrones star Jacob Anderson will play Louis, and Australian actor Sam Reid will take on the role of Lestat. Rolin Jones, who has worked on Weeds, United States of Tara, and Boardwalk Empire, will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Alan Taylor, who most recently helmed the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, will direct the first two episodes and serve as an executive producer.
In addition to overseeing the release of Interview with the Vampire, AMC is also set to launch a franchise built around Rice’s vampire universe. However, whether Bass and her costars will be a part of the next franchise remains to be seen. In any case, the Interview with the Vampire actors are scheduled to begin shooting the series in New Orleans in December. This all but confirms that the new adaptation will have the same setting as its forebears, but other plot points will likely differ from the original novel and the 1994 film. Jacob Anderson, for example, is of Afro-Caribbean descent and will therefore have a necessarily different backstory than Pitt’s plantation-owning Louis. For more information on the upcoming series, fans will have to wait until next year.
Source: Variety