Luke Brandon Field On Exploring Daniel’s Past

Interview with the Vampire season 2, episode 5 sets the scene for a lore-heavy hour of television with the title “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape.” Though the Anne Rice adaptation is set in the present, with Louis (Jacob Anderson) recounting the “true” story of his time with Lestat, it has consistently referred back to a previous interview conducted by Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) in the ’70s. The latest episode finally returns to that fateful night, reintroducing a younger version of Daniel (played by Luke Brandon Field) as both interviewer and subject take a walk down memory lane.

Unbeknownst to either of them, that night’s memories have been edited by Louis’ vampire lover Armand (Assad Zaman) in a betrayal that may break bonds 70 years in the making. Thanks to modern technology, however, the original audio was restored and an important piece of Daniel’s personal history was recovered. Interview with the Vampire‘s characters are all remarkably flawed, which is part of the AMC show’s charm and inherited from the beloved novels, but episode 5 of season 2 may be one of the most complex displays of said flaws thus far. The powerful episode plays out with a breathless pace that pulls apart the threads of Louis, Daniel, and Armand’s tangled web without mercy.

Screen Rant interviewed Field about stepping back into Daniel Molloy’s shoes for “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape” after first appearing in season 1. The actor shared how he and Bogosian landed on the same inspiration for their shared character, explained why his episode is such a pivotal moment for Interview with the Vampire season 2, and described his magnetic chemistry with both Anderson and Zaman.

Separating Daniel Molloy’s Past From His Interview With The Vampire Present

Screen Rant: This isn’t the first time that we have seen your Daniel Malloy in the show, but it is the first time that we get a really extensive look at what went down on that fateful night in 1973. How much of the story did you know when you first came onto the show two years ago?

Luke Brandon Field: In high school, I read the book because we studied gothic literature as part of my English course. Then during the pandemic, I randomly saw the movie for the first time and put the two together. I was like, “Yeah, I remember elements of this.”

When I first got the audition, I saw Daniel Molloy and was like, “Oh, I know who that is,” with Christian Slater and all of that. So, I was somewhat familiar. Later on, I read
Queen of the Damned
, so that obviously informed me a little bit more in terms of Daniel’s life thanks to a certain chapter in that book, which is obviously what a lot of people are interested in. That was where I was at the time, and it informed certain decisions in terms of characterization, of course.

Speaking of characterization, you had a season’s worth of Eric Bogosian’s performance coming into this episode. How much inspiration did you take from his mannerisms when portraying the younger version of the role?

Luke Brandon Field: My preparation for season 2 was similar to the preparation for season 1. I didn’t have the plethora of Eric as Daniel Malloy, but it’s important to understand that who Daniel Molloy is in 2022 is not Daniel Molloy in 1973, so I didn’t want to imitate Eric.

I’d seen Talk Radio during the pandemic randomly, and that gave me a very good idea of a Daniel Molloy-esque, so that’s where I took some feelings and little movements and machinations. But I didn’t want to overly rely on that because it was also important to add some extra color from me.

There were certain other influences at the time, which really helped. What’s interesting is that Eric and I both had a very similar influence for Old Molloy and Young Molloy: Lou Reed. I was Lou Reed in 1973 and he was Lou Reed in 2008 or so. I found this out from Eric when we were in New York. We were talking, and he was like, “A lot of people think it’s this person, but a lot of my stuff is actually from Lou Reed.” Actually, I had found a picture of Lou Reed when I came to New Orleans, and I went into the costume department and was like, “This is what I want to look like.”

All the pieces were there, and we were like, “Wow, this is great.” A bit of an underground mind meld.

Luke Brandon Field Breaks Down The Original Interview In Season 2, Episode 5

When the OG interview starts, Daniel doesn’t even realize that’s what it’s going to be. What is it about Louis that draws him to that apartment?

Luke Brandon Field: I felt it when we first shot the scene in the bar, but Daniel is inquisitive by nature. In the first season, he says, “I look for people in the cracks rather than the politicians.” And I remember the first time that Jacob looked at me, there was just this electricity. It’s almost like he’s beckoning me.

Even though Daniel was like, “No, it’s just work,” there is an inquisitiveness there. Obviously, Louis buys him a drink and says that he has drugs, which is what Daniel’s in for. And he’s like, “Okay, whatever, dude. If something happens, I’m fine with it.”

Also, I didn’t know Jacob or Assad before. We met very briefly before we shot the scene, and I stayed with my American accent. They didn’t know where I was from, and maybe a couple of shots into it, one producer came up to all of us and was like, “You guys are from the same part of the world.” Jacob was like, “What? But you’re American.” I think both of us were slightly distant because we wanted to keep this mystery about who we were. We’ve never met before and we wanted to go in for that, especially when we initially started doing season 2.

We obviously know each other now and have a camaraderie, but this is such an intense episode that goes to so many places, and it’s a rollercoaster. So it was important that I felt very quickly like, “I trust these guys.” It was important to feel that because there’s a lot of sweetness in it, but there’s also a lot of anger. Every scene and every word is so important. Throughout the season, of course, but this episode specifically stands alone.

Daniel Molloy’s Chemistry With Louis & Armand Is Very Different But Equally Intense

Throughout the night, you go from, “Are you the zodiac killer?” to “Give me the dark gift.” How do you track that emotional progress as Daniel goes from one end of the spectrum to the other and back again?

Luke Brandon Field: Well, I tell you, it was certainly helpful that Rolin [Jones] said to treat it like a play. We shot it relatively linearly, and the fun stuff full of joviality is almost like a strange vampire rom-com at the start. We had so much fun doing that. Everything’s quite dramatic and heavy, and it’s just fun to be like, “Show me your fangs.” It’s this sublime feeling.

In terms of tracking, I always took Rolin at his word: “Treat it like a play.” I think the three of us had done plays before in England, and we had that training, so we really put that to use. It was really important because it can be tough to track where you are when you shoot out of sequence. We were lucky that a lot of it was filmed linearly.

And as I said, we trusted each other. We had this camaraderie. Everyone was prepared, but there was also this looseness, which was really nice and felt organic. The “rest” scene? We did not read it before. Assad and I did not talk to each other that day, and it was a very strange day. I wasn’t anticipating what was happening, but I was apprehensive. He was also apprehensive. We didn’t know, but again, there was a lot of mind-melding here. The Interview with the Vampire cast and characters, we mind-meld without knowing it.

We didn’t talk to each other, but we sat on opposite ends, both listening to music. He was listening to classical music, while I was listening to The Marble Index by Nico. I wanted to feel isolated; I wanted to feel this dirge and this vulnerability. It was very quiet on set when we did the scene, and just by listening to him, I felt like I was in a trance. I felt like I was fighting. And I cried! I cried in his arms after we shot the scene, and I had to take a minute outside and just chill, have a coffee and a cigarette. Then he came up and hugged me, and it was great.

What’s funny about the show is – and I think I read it somewhere – that Rolin Jones is really good at casting people who become best friends.

About Interview With The Vampire Season 2

The interview continues in season 2. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Delainey Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.

Check out our other Interview With The Vampire chats here:

Interview with the Vampire

Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis’ life during the interview, the series examines Louis’ relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.

Cast

Jacob Anderson , Sam Reid , Eric Bogosian , Bailey Bass

Release Date

October 2, 2022

Seasons

2

Streaming Service(s)

AMC Plus

Writers

Rolin Jones

Showrunner

Mark Johnson

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