Spoiler Warning: The following article contains spoilers forInterview with the Vampireseason 2.
Delainey Haylesis an up-and-coming actress who earned herself an important role in the AMC seriesInterview with the Vampire.Based on theInterview with the Vampirebooks by Anne Rice, the show premiered in 2022 as the third adaptation of the series after the 1994 movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and the 2002 film,Queen of the Damned, starring Stuart Townsend and Aaliyah. Unlike those first two films,Interview with the Vampirethe series more readily embraces the queer ideaspresent in Rice’s original texts and makes them a core part of the show.
Arriving in the cast in season 2 is Delainey Hayles, a British actress born on June 23, 2025. Hayles replaced Bailey Bass as Claudia in season 2 after a scheduling issue (viaVariety). This is Hayles' first major acting role, coming after some small but notable performances in a handful of TV shows and shorts. As a young child, Hayles would reenactscenes from Disney Channel showswith her little sister, which soon evolved into them making short videos on photobooth, spurring Hayles' interest in acting (viaTheNewsette). Even at a young age, Hayles has already had an impressive career.
Delainey Hayles Stars As Claudia In Interview With The Vampire
Hayles Replaces Bailey Bass From Season 1
Delainey Hayles appears inInterview with the Vampireas Claudia, a 14-year-old girl who Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) turns into a vampire when Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) begs him to do so to save her life. Now damned to be a teenager forever, Claudia begins to see Louis and Lestat as parental figures, a relationship the trio has some difficulties managing.Hayles does an excellent job of bridging her performance and Bass’while still making the character her own. Her adherence to the book characterization ensures there’s no awkwardness when the role is handed over.
Delainey Hayles Has Appeared In Too Soon And Holby City
Hayles' Biggest Role Is In Interview With The Vampire
Hayles began professionally acting on screen in 2019 with the short film,Something in the Closet, where she plays Asha. This role led to a one-episode part in the British miniseries,Too Close, as Billie. Her second-biggest role came in the 2022 TV showHolby Cityas Billie Faber.Holby Cityis a British medical TV drama about the lives of the staff at Holby City Hospital, and the show serves as a spinoff of the British seriesCasualty. Billie is a pregnant woman with a secret who comes to the hospital for six episodes in season 23.
Something in the Closet(2019)
Interview with the Vampire(2024)
Claudia
In 2022, Hayles appeared in the short filmBirdsas Maya.Interview with the Vampireis by far Hayles' biggest role and the best chance most audiences have had to get a good sense of the young actor.Each of her parts has showcased a fearlessness in performing, particularly in regard to Claudia’s death scene inInterview with the Vampire. She has to be in pain, be terrified, and also sing defiantly all at the same moment, and she does so with complete honesty and dedication to the performance.
Delainey Hayles Has Also Worked In The British Theater
Hayles Has Appeared On The West End Stage
Part of Hayles' willingness to play such a big character as Claudia, possibly stems from her background in the theater. She has performed with Trafalgar Entertainment and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Bridge Company.Delainey Hayleshas played Keira inStickyand Lucy Pevensie inThe Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe(West End). It’s fitting then that Claudia is so enamored with the Théâtre des Vampires inInterview with the Vampireand that a theater is where she meets her end.
Interview with the Vampire
Cast
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.
