This past summer, Peacock’s Vampire Academy was just one of the many vampire-centric shows that descended upon San Diego’s Comic-Con. PopWire was on the scene and sat down with some of the cast members of the new series, and boy did we learn a lot about the upcoming show! They share what sets this show apart from others like it, and speak on how some of the relationship dynamics might work.
Audience Takeaways | All four cast members agree that whether you’re a fan of the book series on which the show is based or not familiar with the source material, there’s something in Vampire Academy for everyone. “There’s action, there’s romance, it’s passionate and there’s some scary elements,” says Sisi Stringer (Rose). “The bad vampires are fucking terrifying. I think at the center of any good story is relationships, really, and the way that characters interact and build relationships with each other and to the world and stuff like that.”
Kieron Moore (Dimitri) hopes fans gain different types of perspectives and insights on the show. “I hope people are charmed by the show. I hope people walk away with passions and insight and different kinds of truths, and I think there is something for everyone.”
Daniela Nieves (Lissa) thinks the audience will be take by surprise with how sexy and mature some scenes and themes can be. “People are not gonna know really what to expect. There’s so many different elements of stuff. I know it’s a vampire genre, but I think we make it really sexy, we make it adult-y at points. We make it funny and there’s so much action and fighting that I think the mix of that will be really interesting to see the feedback of fans.”
André Dae Kim (Christian) echoes their sentiments, and adds that he feels that the heart of this story is something that viewers will be able to connect with. “I think the core message of the story is something that will really resonate with people as well.”
How this Show Sets Itself Apart | Vampire Academy isn’t the first young-adult vampire show ever to be made. In fact, it’s not even creators Julie Plec and Marguerite Macintyre’s first time making a young-adult vampire show. What sets this one apart from all the others that have a similar premise? “[Author Richelle Mead] creates a world in the books that we haven’t really seen for vampires before,” explains Stringer.
“There are different kinds of vampires, and there’s this ancient society and it has rules and hierarchies and systems and laws of its own. And we exist outside of the human world as well, in our own kind of closed dominion.We’re not interacting with the human world, really, at all. You’re put into this world that’s just the vampires and just their law and all of the things that they do. I think it’s very different in that aspect.”
Daniela feels the main thing that sets Vampire Academy apart is the sisterhood. “I think that at the core of the story of what drives the plot forward is female friendship.” André agrees, saying “You have two very strong female leads in a completely vampire world. They get to be themselves with no human interference.” The world of Vampire Academy exists mostly outside of the human world, and that definitely sets it apart from other shows like it.
They also added their own personal touches to their characters to make them a little extra special. Daniela knew she had specific qualities she wanted Lissa to have, “She needs to be graceful. She needs to be compassionate and see the good in people, like Christian does.” She also looks very different than the Lissa in the books, which is totally fine. Yay representation!
André felt it was important for them to all keep the essence of their characters from the books, but wanted to add little differences to make the character their own. “I think what we all tried to do was keep the essence of our character from the original source material, while allowing ourselves to be actors.” André also spoke about his philosophy in acting. “You can only play people that you can see yourself becoming. Christian is someone who I can see myself becoming in some ways.”
Rose and Lissa’s Friendship | The main relationship in the show is the friendship between Rose and Lissa, and according to Sisi, that relationship grew off-screen just as fast and naturally as it did on-screen. “We got together on social media when we were first cast, and we were talking back and forth. Same with this one (Kieron), talking back and forth all the time and kind of getting to know each other. When we finally met it was just a lovely few days in Madrid of just me and her and Kieron and André and we spent this beautiful quality time together just getting to know each other and kind of getting excited for what was to come. That really bonded us right at the start.”
Christian and Lissa’s Relationship | One of the main romantic relationships in the show occurs between Lissa and Christian. They were drawn together by their shared trauma and they share an unspoken bond, but according to Daniela there are a lot of things standing in their way. “There’s gonna be a lot of things that come in between them. There’s gonna be a lot of obstacles between Christian and Lissa as the show progresses.” André thinks the pair share a classic love story. “To me it’s almost like a classic love story between two people that have this really deep and internal love for each other.”
Vampire Academy premieres Thursday, September 15 on Peacock.