Interview by Rafy Mediavilla w/ Peacock “Vampire Academy” stars J. August Richards & Jonetta Kaiser. Where we spoke about their characters, and Julie Plec adaptation. Out Now On PeacockTV!
From executive producers Julie Plec & Marguerite MacIntyre comes a story of friendship, romance and danger. In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society. One as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage ‘Strigoi’ who threaten to tear their society apart. That is, if Royal infighting doesn’t do the job first.
Criticólogos:
This is familiar territory for you, obviously coming from Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), so I wonder in your opinion how has the whole vampire scene evolved from those times to today?
J. August Richards:
Well, number one, the biggest difference for me, obviously, is that on Angel, I played a human vampire hunter. And now on this, I get to play a vampire. You know, honestly, there’s something timeless about vampires. And, you know, obviously, the audiences fascination with vampires has only gotten stronger than it has back then. I mean, just like so many different vampire stories have been told since we wrapped those shows. The another difference about this show is that the world of this show is diametrically different than the world of Buffy and Angel, which took place participating within the world as we know it on this show.
This is a totally underground secret vampire society, and this show has a lot to do with like classism and class distinction. And obviously, my character, Victor, is very passionate about ending that separation of classes. So that’s one of the things that I really love about this character.
Criticólogos:
How much of the source material did you know, before coming into the project or. Or did you just work with whatever Julie gave you for the character?
Jonetta Kaiser:
Yeah, I mean, a little bit of both. I was a huge fan of the books as a kid. I read them, so I that was my introduction into like vampire worlds. And then from there, I was just, you know, watching Julie Plec show The Vampire Diaries. I was already a huge fan. So booking this really was like full circle, a dream come true.
Criticólogos:
If you could switch with other characters from the series, with one would it be and why?
J. August Richards:
Wow. I mean, listen, I’m a huge fan of the Queen, played by Pixie. She’s just such a dynamic actress and just has this gravitas that I hope to possess one day. She’s so much fun in real life and I really admire her, so that would be my answer.
Criticólogos:
For people that really don’t know much about the novels. What can they expect from the series?
J. August Richards:
Well, it is, you know, a show about this underground vampire society where there is political turmoil and a new monarch is about to succeed. The previous one, which causes all this chaos and drama and political maneuvering within the society. That’s what it’s about on the surface. But underneath, I really think it’s about the power of female friendships. And. And with my character specifically, I think it’s about how far is too far in getting what you want, even if it’s for the greater good. Where is that line? And that’s one of the things I enjoyed the most about exploring this character.
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