AUTUMN: Interested to know what line or moment [from the séance] you felt was to you the most gut-wrenching and searing?
DELAINEY: There's quite a few in that sequence. But I think, if I had to pick... Obviously you would not say this kind of stuff to strangers, she's saying it to her family, you know? And you say stuff to your family. But for me, I think what really made me upset is the calling for Madeline at the end. When I read that, I was like, 'This is so unfair... Short end of the stick, her whole life.'
DELAINEY: And alone again, you know?
AUTUMN: I know! And it's so heartbreaking because... she's there without Madeleine, and yet who is sitting before her, who always gets to come back to each other round and round again?
DELAINEY: That's one of the first things she says as well is, 'Oh, you're back with him.' and it's like, 'Oh, another night. There you go.'
AUTUMN: You see, I was very curious about that line and that delivery, because I love how the seance starts off with Merrick channeling Claudia's voice and her eyes change - such a wonderful detail. And of course she starts out addressing Lestat but admonishing Louis, and Lestat kind of corrects her eye line and she glances over at him, but her eyes return back to Lestat and she asks like, 'You're back with him.' Louis takes that question to mean she's talking to him, but she is looking at Lestat. Like do you think that... who was she asking here? Or does it matter?
DELAINEY: I don't think it matters. I mean I have my own opinion, but I don't want to put that out there cause then sometimes that's taken as like, factuality. When we as actors are also open to discussions, you know?
AUTUMN: Well yeah! But I mean, being open to discussion– I feel like the fans are smart enough to know that it is up to interpretation. If you feel so inclined to share, I would be very interested to know your opinion on this as the actor behind Claudia.
DELAINEY: Yeah, I think when filming it, I think she says it to Louis. But now looking at from an outsider's perspective and a viewer, I think it's to either or. Like, 'How pathetic that the both of you are next to each other again? What a shock!', you know.
AUTUMN: I mean, do you think there was ever any part of her that would expect anything different though? Does she actually think like, 'Are you serious?' Is there any element of her that is surprised?
DELAINEY: Yeah, I think there is. And I think Claudia kind of hangs on to the hope that Louis would find it, or take the initiative and find it and do better and make a good choice. But he never really does. And like, down to the diary situation, again he doesn't... seek out to hurt people or make the wrong decisions. He just is Louis, and that's what he does. So, I think when she sees that they're back together, I think there's a nanosecond of shock and then in her head she's like, 'Wait, why am I shocked? Like, of course. It's no other than Yes and Absolutely.' And because they're together, they kind of create this safe bubble for each other– When I say 'yes and absolutely', it's like... Louis would say 'Yes' and Lestat would say 'Absolutely'. It's like the blind leading the blind, you know? And after they finish the séance scene, they walk in the park and they're just like, '(Tiny sigh)' I'm like, sorry?! You should be crying, balling yourself up in the corner, rocking back and forth! But because they're together, they kind of are each other's companion and, as much as we don't want to say it, they do balance each other out, they feel safe with each other and they kind of just like 'Oh, that was a lot.' And it's like, no!! Actually listen to her again!
AUTUMN: Right?! And I think too with Madeleine -her accusation towards the end-, I loved that shift where she is pointedly talking about Louis and Lestat's failure in life, but then also she does ask, 'You hug one out for Madeleine?' because it's like, 'Once again, you guys have reanimated me into this new form again to solve whatever's going on between you two and haven't given a consideration to what was most important to me.'
AUTUMN: And it's such a such a damning way to go out.
DELAINEY: Yeah, it is. But again, that is why I love Claudia, she is just a traumatic character and that is her and there's so much beauty in that, but there is so much pain at the same time.
AUTUMN: So much pain. I am interested with you talking about Louis and the diaries and all of that there, and her hoping that maybe he would come to, and break out of his cycles and everything... cause we have this huge revelation where she's saying she hates him more than anyone else and above everything else. And maybe this is me getting a little too woo-woo about it, but do you think that she always– that level of hate was always present? Or do you think that's something that's like, within the afterlife seeing how much he still holds on to her and her memory and going through her personal effects and hanging her dead dress on the wall?
DELAINEY: Yeah, no, I think it was built over time, that anger. I think obviously she's had time to look back at her life and Louis is always there, you know? So I think it's a thing that's built time and it's like, 'How dare you? You needed a bit of closure, so you called me. You didn't actually like– I don't know, I feel like if he called her on like a random Tuesday by himself, I feel like there would have been more of a discussion. But, 'He called me up. And ooh, and you've brought him. Fantastic.' She doesn't want to hear anybody else's voice. She doesn't want to hear anybody speak right now. It's like, 'Let me– Now that you've called me, you're going to hear what I have to say.' ...But, they still don't. So. It's painful.
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