Interview With The Vampire recasts its immortal vampire kid

A casting shake-up on AMC’s well-received Interview With The Vampire TV series tonight, as Variety reports that series star Bailey Bass, who plays immortal vampire child Claudia, has been recast. Bass will be replaced in the part by Delainey Hayles for the show’s second season.

What’s weird about this is that, while both Bass and the network are being very polite about the departure, nobody’s saying why the part has been recast—including what would seem to be the most obvious reason, i.e., that playing an immortal vampire child is kind of tricky to do on multiple seasons of TV filmed years apart. (Although Bass is currently 19, so her version of Claudia was already quite a bit older than the one featured in Rice’s books, anyway; we can’t immediately find any info on how old Hayles, who’s a relative newcomer, is.)

In any case: Bass was gracious in her statement, saying, “Due to a variety of unforeseen circumstances I’m unable to return to Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire for the second season. Playing Claudia has been a dream role and an incredible ride. I wish Delainey the best of luck in taking over. I cannot wait to watch. I’m extremely appreciative of AMC, the producers, Jacob [Anderson], Sam [Reid], the crew and, of course, the wonderful fans.” AMC was similarly positive, writing that, “Bailey Bass is a talented actor who did a remarkable job bringing the character of Claudia to life in Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire. For a variety of reasons, Delainey Hayles will appear as Claudia in season two. We are grateful for Bailey’s unforgettable performance in season one and wish her nothing but the best.”

See? Just a “variety” of “unforeseen” reasons that no one feels moved to explain. Nothing odd about that!