During filming either I meshed into Armand or Armand meshed into me. Sometimes I couldn’t tell the difference, which is something I’ve never experienced as an actor.
~ Assad Zaman for Bustle, May 11th, 2024
Preparing to kill the "fascinating boy" was Zaman's favorite scene to film from Episode 5, the first episode filmed for Season 2. "For me, one of my favorite parts of doing Episode 5 is the final moment with Daniel and sort of soothing him into his lull before I kill him. That was such a real, really interesting depiction of how Armand, particularly as a vampire, kills his prey and how this is almost like singing him to sleep and going, 'This is what you want, this is what you need.' It's so creepy and dark. Making you want death, making you want it," Zaman emphasizes, is Armand's most chilling talent.
~ Assad Zaman for TV Insider, Aug 15th, 2024
And I cried! I cried in his arms after we shot the scene, and I had to take a minute outside and just chill, have a coffee and a cigarette. Then he came up and hugged me, and it was great. What's funny about the show is - and I think I read it somewhere - that Rolin Jones is really good at casting people who become best friends.
~ Luke Brandon Field for Screenrant, Jun 10th, 2024.
It’s so hypnotic. I felt hypnotized at the time. [] We didn't rehearse it before we did it and I broke down crying, because it was just so visceral and amazing. And I felt so looked after by Assad.
~ Luke Brandon Field for The Wrap, Jun 11th, 2024
We got on set, we rehearsed it, and immediately, I just started crying. Assad was going through it, Armand goes through this long thing, and then there's that line that Daniel has, "I'm a reporter. I have a point of view." I was shocked because it felt so natural and so real. I felt so vulnerable. I think we both did. We filmed it a couple of times, and then they got it, and afterward, we both hugged each other because we just didn't really have any words. For me, it's one of the best scenes of the episode and of the season.
~ Luke Brandon Field for Collider, Jun 10th, 2024
EB: In fact Assad is also a very sweet person, but he really gets into the role, and I’m sure it was scary as shit. What was it? Luke, I’m interviewing you! He scared you, right?
LBF: But yeah, you’re right, Assad was very scary at times. Especially on that last few days on the ‘Rest’ scene where he was holding me, we didn’t talk at all. I remember that Craig called for rehearsal for it. Assad immediately went into it, and I started crying on rehearsal. And we both kind of looked at each other and did a double take, and it was like Wow this is very powerful. Craig just said, “Alright, let’s go”. We went immediately. We only did it maybe 4-5 times, we just hit it every single time. I was very nervous because it was obviously a very emotional scene for the two of us, but I felt like we were on point every single time just because it was so intimate, and difficult, and we were both in it together at the same time. It was quite amazing.
~ Luke Brandon Field and Eric Bogosian on Autumn Brown’s Youtube, Jun 11th, 2024
What's also interesting is that Assad and I were stationed, we were living very close to each other in Prague, and we spent a lot of time with each other. So there were two characters, completely separate. There's this very sweet guy, and then there's this evil character who is wonderfully created with a lot of looks. I haven't had that many roles where it's done with staredowns.
~ Eric Bogosian for TV Guide, Jun 10th, 2024
@/moscotweets: Yeah this is some weird British humility bullshit on Assad's part :) He's an immensely skilled, deliberate (and magnetic) actor.
He is. I had jaw-drop moments at the monitor when we were shooting Season Two, Episode Five.
Agreed. He is very sweet. I am Canadian - we're humble people - but Assad had me beat.
And yeah Assad is an art monster and a formidable human who disguises himself as a sweet lil' pikachu - it's an ambush!
@/ericbogosian: l agree. I was ambushed by how intense he was. Great great actor.
~ Hannah Moscovitch and Eric Bogosian on X, Aug 28th, 2024
C: Now that we can talk Season 2 spoilers, which scene did you think was going to be the most difficult for you to pull off, and ultimately, was it, or did a different one catch you by surprise?
AZ: I think all the French scenes.
DH: Your French is beautiful.
RJ: You don't speak a lick of it either, right?
AZ: No, nothing! And I was really, really terrified. But in the end, I enjoyed them more than some of the other scenes. For some reason, I felt more like Armand in French. Something about the language is so beautiful and kind of sensual. It helped me, especially in Episode 6 with Madeleine. That's one of my favorite scenes that we worked on.
~ Assad Zaman, Delainey Hayles, and Rolin Jones for Collider, Aug 1st, 2024
Hayles mentions working with Zaman as a particular highlight of her experience on set. “Assad is usually very fun on set. But when he becomes Armand, there’s a quietness to him. It’s very unsettling,” she says. “Before we start doing the scenes, I could see him starting his transformation and it was really lovely to see. And when we come out of takes, he’s back to himself again. Working with Assad was so interesting. I loved it.”
~ Delainey Hayles for Film Updates, May 30th, 2025
Louis has a new partner, Armand, played by Assad Zaman. We'll find out a lot more about Armand and his backstory and who he is as a character, because Assad didn't really get the chance to play Armand last season. Armand is a really awesome character that has a lot of connections to a lot of the vampires. He's very old. Finding out more about Armand, and Louis and Armand's relationship and their dynamic, which is very different to Louis and Lestat, it's exciting. It's a wild ride. I get tingles when I see Assad as Armand – it's very spine-tinglingly good. As is Ben Daniels, who plays Santiago. People are in for a real treat.
~ Sam Reid for Entertainment Weekly, Jul 21st, 2024
Now Assad! I’ve got two moments with Assad. So the first time I got to act with Assad, was when we were doing the flashback – or Armand’s memory. There’s an extraordinary close up on Assad, when he’s looking at Lestat and Nicki. He has this wild, fiery kind of expression, and they did this amazing zoom in on his face. And I was standing behind the monitor watching it with Levan and I was like, Oh my god. That’s literally the character of the book! I’ve never – It was just wild to see. That is Armand. That’s amazing! And Levan was like “Yeah, he gives good face” [Laughs] But my actual favorite, favorite-favorite scene of Assad was one that I was actually fortunate enough to be there for. And that was in Episode 4, the Arun speech – the Louvre painting. I just – It was so heartbreaking. And it was so twisted, the whole story of Armand, with his past with Marius and the way he was used. It completely explained that character, and I thought Assad just did the most beautiful job there. And I had to ruin it by saying ‘Ha!’ really loudly, which I really tried to get rid of because I didn’t want to do it but. Yeah.
~ Sam Reid picks his costars' best scenes for TV Insider, Jun 18th, 2025
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