Based on Anne Rice's iconic novel, Interview with The Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac's (Jacob Anderson) epic tale of love, blood, and the perils of immortality. In Season 2, we’ve watched as Louis and Armand’s (Assad Zaman) relationship blossoms from its romantic beginnings in Paris, to something much deeper in Dubai. We spoke to Zaman about diving into Armand’s backstory, the challenge of learning French for Season 2, and making sure Armand felt very different from Season 1’s Rashid. 
Q: In Episode 3 we learn about Armand’s past and oh boy do we learn some fantastic nuggets of information right away. The fact that his coven was called The Children of Darkness and that they had been successful for 239 years prior to their fall — or I should say their pre-meditated demise — is incredible. Also, that Magnus was one of Armand’s deserters who then spawned Lestat! This is hugely important information. Were you excited that so many details about his life were unveiled this season?  
A: Yeah, those are nuggets from the next few books. When I got the part, I read The Vampire Armand before anything else because I wanted to know all the details. I think Anne Rice developed Armand as she went along, so it was important for me to know who Armand was before everything and how that feeds into this version of Armand that we have in the show. The story of the Coven, the Children of Darkness, was something that I knew I was really excited about exploring but I didn’t realize we would get to it so quickly! When we got the scripts and I saw we were diving into it in Episode 3, that Armand and Daniel Molloy would have this moment alone without Louis, that was exciting. Suddenly Armand’s like, “Do you want to know a bit about me?” And he just starts going into it!
I was like, this is fascinating. This is amazing! But what's also fantastic is I think there's room to re-explore that in many different contexts as we do within the show, because everything is up for grabs since memory is a monster. So, this backstory that we're getting, we've got to remember that it’s still being told by Armand in a very controlled fashion to someone that he dislikes and disdains quite a bit. So how much of is true? How much of is false? I don't know. But it was fun! [Laughs] It was really, really exciting to think, okay, this is for the book readers, the lore is being opened and explored. We're really going into the universe now!
Q: We hear Armand utter “Viens a moi” for the first time in Episode 3 as well and it’s just so dramatic and incredible. I really can’t believe you learned French in the time since we last spoke during Season 1! That process of learning it in such a short time frame must have been intense. 
A: Oh, yes. I think about eight or nine months before we started shooting, Rolin [Jones, creator] called me and said, “How fluent are you in French?” I said, “Absolutely, non-existent!” And he went, “How fluent can you get by the time we start?” And I was like, “I can give it a go.” So, I got a French teacher, an incredible woman who was so amazing, and we just jumped right in. It was before the scripts, so we didn't have the lines to work with, so I started with just a basic crash course.
I studied every day, and it was quite intense, but it was also an incredible opportunity. I've always wanted to learn French! I never got a chance to in school. What an opportunity to be given, to get a chance to learn a new skill in your life. So, I'm really grateful to Rolin for actually making me do that. When we finally got the scripts and I got to a certain level, we were like, “Okay, now it's better to just focus on the lines and make sure I can sound as fluent as possible.” I think the advantage I have as Armand is, Armand is not native French speaker. So, we could afford a little bit of flexibility there — and that's not a cop out — but it's just an understanding that it doesn't have to be perfect.
It's his fourth language after all!
Exactly! It was such a joy to learn and I'm still learning by the way! It's such a difficult language.
Q: “Come to me” is sang later in that episode when Lestat is occupying Louis’s mind again while he’s on what seems like a lovely date with Armand. There’s a lot of jealousy there from Armand — that although his ex is gone, he still takes up so much space in Louis’s mind. In a modern-day moment we see in Episode 4 we see Armand shudder uncomfortably as Louis is describing what his visions of Lestat were like at the time. Do you think that jealousy is something that afflicts all vampires? It seems that in every story they are true romantics that are powerful in so many ways, but so weak when it comes to matters of the heart.  
A: What's unique about what we explore in the show is that when you’re immortal, what else is there to value other than matters of the heart? Material things dissipate, they die, they rot, they go, civilizations crumble, rise and crumble, and you are still there. In the end, all you have is those matters of the heart. The way people think, what people think about you, or how people make you feel, and how you impact them. But I don’t think that jealousy is unique to vampires’ minds.
When it comes to humans, I'm not sure that anyone can truly say that they're not the jealous type, that they don't feel jealousy. I think it's an emotion and the thing about emotions is that you can't control them. Jealousy comes in lots of different forms. Some people can manage jealousy, I think, better than others. And some people avoid jealousy. So, if any sort of situation arises where they see the potential for jealousy, they'll run away from it so as not to feel it. It doesn't mean that they can't feel, it means that they're actively avoiding anything that will let them feel it. 
Q: The last time we spoke as Season 1 was coming to an end we talked a bit about the physicality of Rashid — his calmness, his composure, and his stillness. And this season that has all been dashed as Armand has come out to play! It’s so interesting to watch clips from last season and then compare them to this season’s episodes. I can see how Rashid was the costume and Armand is the real deal. What were the physical cues or mannerisms that really helped you hold onto and blossom into this fully fleshed out version of Armand that we get to spend so much time with this season? 
A: They had to be completely different, but I also wanted the audience to still see the nugget of what he pretended to be in Season 1. I'll be totally honest; I think 80% to 90% of the job was done by this amazing team of makeup artists and designers. I felt transformed the first time I saw Armand's look and eyes — I didn't recognize myself! I think Rashid is closer to me than Armand is. So, I was like, wow! When you put on a suit or if you put on something that you don't normally wear, it often changes your physicality.
You carry yourself differently.
Absolutely. And if you wear stilettos, or you’re wearing flats, whatever it is, it makes you consciously feel that you have to wear the thing or it'll wear you, you know what I mean? When I got into the costume, especially the Paris stuff that you see Armand in, it did something to me. It became really easy after that to find the language of the physicality of who Armand is in that moment. It was really a combination of the hair, the makeup, and the costumes.
Well, [costume designer] Carol Cutshall knows what she's doing!
Oh my gosh, she's brilliant. Absolutely genius. Then in the hair department we had this amazing guy, Francesco, who crafted these beautiful looks. Things that I'd never done with my hair he was able to achieve. Everyone keeps asking me, “Is that a wig you're wearing?” And I keep saying “No, no, he did that!” I was like, this is insane. Then Adele, who was my makeup artist, was fantastic. She created this almost matte-like effect with my face.
Yes! You look almost doll like, in perfection.
Right?! It's quite bizarre. I think the make-up really helped me distance myself from the humanity of it all as well, so I could become Armand, this immortal. There was an alienness about it all. It felt beyond mortal.
Interview with the Vampire airs on Sundays at 9/8c on AMC. Episodes are available to stream on amc.com (with a cable provider login), and the AMC apps for mobile and devices. You can also watch episodes via AMC+ at amcplus.com or through the new AMC+ app available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Roku plus Samsung and Vizio smart TVs. AMC+ can also be streamed through a variety of providers, including AppleTV, Prime Video Channels, DirectTV, Dish, Roku Channel, Sling, and Xfinity. Sign up for AMC+ now.