One of the biggest events in last season’s Interview With the Vampire was the trial in Paris. Culminating in probably one of the most devastating scenes in the series so far, it was a heavy watch for all fans, but also one of the best moments in television. It was a culmination of everything that made Interview With the Vampire great.
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The trial dealt with Claudia (Delainey Hayes), Madelaine (Roxane Duran), and Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) in Paris after they broke the Five Great Laws. Present for it all was Armand (Assad Zaman), who played a key part in the events of the trial itself as well as its aftermath.
In a recent interview with Nerdist for The Vampire Lestat, Zaman discussed where Armand’s thoughts were in that moment, and why he ultimately made the decisions that he did.
“I think sometimes Armand can be incredibly cunning and conniving, but I think in that final sort of chapter of Paris, I think it’s pretty clear that the wheels were coming off really, really quickly, and he was desperate. He’s just like, ‘Okay, I need to survive.’ Because he hasn’t got the guts to end it himself,” he said. “So if he’s going to survive, he’s going to have to have someone because I think he’s profoundly lonely and he’s profoundly terrified of being alone. Armand above everything, above wanting things or wanting people, wanting Louis, or even Daniel, to an extent, he wants to survive. And he needs to cling onto something to survive. He can’t off himself. He’s too afraid to do it. So he needs something else.”
Armand apologists, we rise
Armand is possibly the most divisive character in the series. Fans tend to love him or hate him. After the events of this episode, it was definitely much harder to defend his character for sending Claudia off to her death. Though Zaman initially said that the decision was made because Claudia held less importance for him, he has since changed his mind.
“I think also he could see the torture of vampirism in Claudia,” said Zaman. “I think he could see how painful it was for Claudia in a way that Louis couldn’t. And I think, in a twisted way, he thought this might be a gift that [he’s] giving to her, the gift of death.”
This decision would prove to be detrimental to all involved, including himself. Armand not only regretted the trial happening, but he also regretted how it happened. So overshadowed by the need to be the most important person in Louis’s life, Armand made some decisions he would regret. And for an immortal vampire, regret just may be worse than death.
Armand is one of those layered characters that slowly reveals more of themselves over time. He is just as tortured as Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) and Louis. Zaman agrees: “We all just need to have a little bit more compassion for Armand, I think, is the bottom line.”
