Interview With The Vampire Loses Star Actor, Here’s Their Replacement
Interview with the Vampire's Bailey Bass is leaving the series for undisclosed reasons, to be replaced by Delainey Hayles.
Though it’s not an uncommon practice to replace a lead character with a different actor or actress, it can sometimes be jarring to the audience. According to Deadline, we’re going to be seeing such a casting change when Interview With the Vampire starts its second season. Bailey Bass, who portrayed Claudia in season 1, will be replaced by Delainey Hayles in season 2, for undisclosed reasons.
Though Bass’ departure from Interview With the Vampire is sudden, it doesn’t seem that there was any controversy behind her decision to exit the series. In fact, she expresses gratitude for her opportunity to play Claudia in the Anne Rice adaptation. The simple fact of the matter is that sometimes good things have to come to an end, but the show must go on.
Bass issued her own statement, stating, “Due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances I’m unable to return to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire for the second season. Playing Claudia has been a dream role and an incredible ride. I wish Delainey the best of luck in taking over, and I cannot wait to watch.”
What we do know, however, is that Bass will be reprising her role as Tsireya for subsequent Avatar installments, but we can’t say for certain that she left Interview With the Vampire for scheduling reasons or something else entirely. Though she appears to be busy hard at work on the upcoming James Cameron sequels. Avatar 3 is currently in post-production and slated for a late 2024 release, and production for Avatar 4 is already well underway.
For those of you worried about the future of Interview With the Vampire, you can rest assured that the series is in good hands. Delainey Hayles not only has a striking resemblance to her predecessor, the up-and-coming Birds star is also not without dramatic chops. It’s safe to say that under the guidance of producer Mark Johnson, and showrunner Rolin Jones, the series will make a seamless transition as they swap out their lead female role.
We consider ourselves grateful that Interview With the Vampire will continue as a series, no matter who is playing the lead female role. After all, AMC Networks owns the rights to 18 of Rice’s novels, most notably The Vampire Chronicles, so there is a lot of fertile ground in the way of source material to carry the series on for multiple seasons should they choose to do so. And if you think about it, this won’t be the first time we see a different incarnation of Claudia, considering that a young Kirsten Dunst played the part in the 1994 film adaptation of the same name.
Though we are sad to see Bailey Bass part ways with the Interview With the Vampire series, we can only hope that this means she’s onto bigger and better things. The best thing we could do at this point in time is have faith in the showrunners, and hope that the iconic gothic horror series will have a successful run with Delainey Hayles taking the reins.
Season 2 of Interview With the Vampire starts filming this month, and if all goes according to plan, will be slated for an October 2023 release on AMC. Bailey Bass’ decision to leave the series may have come to us as a surprise, but we’re beyond excited to see what Delainey Hayles can bring to the table.
