Talamasca: The Secret Order Cast and Creators Tease This Top Secret Anne Rice Series

Until recently, we knew nothing about Talamasca: The Secret Order. The Anne Rice Immortal Universe spin-off opted to follow the spy code rather than the author’s source material.

It wasn’t until San Diego Comic-Con that we finally uncovered details about the show’s motives and ambitions as a spy thriller.

During a top-secret rooftop press conference, complete with vigilant Talamasca agents, cast members Nicholas Denton, William Fichtner, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Celine Buckens joined EP Mark Johnson and showrunners John Lee Hancock and Mark Lafferty to discuss the most mysterious of the Anne Rice shows.

The Immortal Universe

Talamasca exists within the Immortal Universe, but will forge its own path alongside Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches.

“It was always intended as an independent show that existed within the same world,” showrunner John Lee Hancock confirmed.

“That’s not to say we don’t watch that world, and that world isn’t involved in ours. We have maybe restaurants down the street from each other. We’re on the same block. We have the same diners who come and go. We look for opportunities to engage with the other shows. It’s an opportunity, not an obligation.”

The show will act as a rogue agent, using the limited information on this organization to create a concept with no boundaries: “We wanted to be our own thing. There’s no book on the Talamasca written by Anne Rice. She has, however, created the organization, talked about it, and had several very well-known characters who are Talamasca agents,” Hancock explained.

Some theorized that notable book characters are hiding behind “code names” within the Talamasca, but the showrunners seemingly debunked this idea. 

“It was very freeing to be able to say, for instance, all these actors play characters that are original,” Hancock confessed.

However, familiar characters will appear throughout the show, coming and going under the watchful eye of the secret society.

“When you run into your teacher at the grocery store, and you’re like, ‘My teacher goes to the grocery store?’ That’s the feeling we want you to have when you see characters overlapping in these shows. The Talamasca is its own organization — but that world will interact with the other worlds, and it should be thrilling when they do. It should be for a reason that makes sense. It should be additive to both shows, and give everybody that little injection of hope as this universe draws closer together,” Lafferty described.

Which leads us to the reveal that a particular interviewer will be making an appearance.

Hello Daniel Molloy!

“When we bring Daniel Molloy in, it’s in conjunction with everything that’s happening with him in Interview with the Vampire and where he is post-season two, pre-season three,” Hancock revealed.

“His actions make sense for Interview with the Vampire, and they make a lot of sense for what happens, as you will see at the end of Episode 1,” co-showrunner Lafferty added.

Does Molloy’s appearance mean the show with no allegiances can explore books not yet opened by the other series? No, not exactly.

“There are books that we think are off limits, that are kind of off the table for us,” Lafferty confessed. “But there’s an appetite to weave these universes together. In terms of Easter eggs, we like to think of them as opportunities to deepen a long-form story. It’s going to have evidence for use if you were far down the line.”

“You’ll see that the reason Daniel Molloy is in this first episode of Talamaska is not to surprise people, but to carry over from one serious to the other. It’s very important that our character Guy has read the book and that Daniel has some real information for him. So it’s hardly gratuitous. It’s very much integral to the story,” Johnson added.

Spies, Vampires, Witches, oh my!

“Spies and vampires are lonely people,” Hancock said during the press conference, and that seems to be the theme Talamasca is embracing.

“They’re almost like metaphors for emotion. Vampires are metaphors for lonely, isolated people who are struggling with maintaining a connection to the outside world. So when you go deeper into how human they are, what are their basic flaws, what are their basic human beings, anything’s possible,” Maisie Richardson-Sellers explained.

“It feels like any of us could be a vampire in the Talamasca. That is how blended the real world — the human world — and the immortal world of the show is.”

Talamasca will feature more supernatural creatures than ever before from Anne Rice’s books. However, fans should not expect a monster-of-the-week format.

“We have our vampires, and we have our witches, and I think other immortal beings will make their way into the show at some point,” Lafferty shared.

“What’s most important to us is that these characters feel like real people that you get to know and that have complex feelings and emotions and drives.”

“All the stuff that makes us want to be a part of this universe, versus simply trotting out a monster for the sake of trotting out a monster. But we want to keep expanding it. We want to make sure it feels full and that it’s not limited to where we started. As the show goes on, we’ll keep building out.”

Twists and Turns

When asked to elaborate on what the plot of the Talamasca will delve into, the cast and creators shifted uneasily in their seats.

“That question is fraught with peril,” Hancock chuckled.

“We have so many complications, so many twists. Obviously, Helen and Guy, it starts off with that. And there is a strange and kind of wonderful relationship they have, which is that she’s both your principal and your student, and she’s also the mom you haven’t had for a long time. She’s maternal, and yet we’re not sure we trust her. I think at the core of Season One, for sure, is that relationship.”

“We’re sitting on so many spoilers, like so many. We can only speak about the premise. I’m so excited for people to see it and then to hear what everyone thinks about the twists and turns,” Celine Buckens teased.

Thankfully, they could reveal the show will look to classic spy novels for inspiration.

“We love spy novels. There are crises of conscience and confidence on every page of those books. And so it sort of set the table for how fun it would be to enter this world that Rolin Jones has set up so well, and say, ‘Well, what if we bring the convention to this spy genre and push it right into the center of the table in that universe?'” Lafferty recalled.

“At first, we weren’t sure if the spy genre and the Anne Rice University mesh so neatly. But once you start to examine the commonalities, once you start to examine the themes that those two genres have in common, if more lonely people who are yearning for something, people who have a chip on their shoulder, it’s a lot of the same stuff.”

Lafferty went on to say the show will experiment with multiple genres and is “a real thrill ride.”

“It’s so funny, it’s thrilling, it’s got horror and love. There’s something for fans of the Anne Rice universe, and there’s something for people who have no conviction in the Anne Rice universe.”

“I’m excited for you to see the blend of genres. Having a traditional spy show with the supernatural together like this — it’s new, and it really works,” Richardson-Sellers added.

—

Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order premieres Sunday, October 26, on AMC and AMC+.

Check out our full coverage of San Diego Comic-Con, including panel recaps, news, and interviews, here!

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!