Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre are diving into a whole new world of vampires. Their new show, Vampire Academy, premieres September 15 with the first 4 episodes. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with the show’s executive producers about exploring a show that’s completely different from their past show The Vampire Diaries.
“That was the goal. The goal that I think we achieved at the end was creating a world that doesn’t feel like we’re just reaching into the same bag of tricks, which I would never want to do this if that was the way it was going to be,” Julie told HollywoodLife at the show’s press junket.
Julie and Marguerite have been friends for a “long time,” well before The Vampire Diaries premiered in 2009. “We both read Vampire Academy together on a holiday. We both really fell in love with those books back then, and then we both went on this whole Vampire Diaries franchise journey together from her being an actor to her being a writer,” Julie explained. “I’ve always wanted to have her as my partner, so every time I get a new job, I sort of call her up and say, ‘Do you want to do this?’ And I called her up and I said, ‘Do you want to do Vampire Academy with me?’ Thinking she was going to be like, ‘Yes.’ And she was like, ‘No. Why would we do that? Why are we going to do another vampire show?’”
Julie continued, “And then I dangled this little fish of the thing that she loves the most, which is the royal intrigue, the palace, the behind the scenes of the quest for power, the political elements of all of that.” In re-examining the books, Marguerite noticed the “obvious parallels to today… It could be so resonant for people while being beautiful while having vampires and castles and fights and all the things you’re also telling a tale that resonates today.”
They both acknowledged that the most difficult character to cast from Richelle Mead’s books was Rose. “Originally, we had seen Sisi I think for Lissa, so it took some maneuvering. Dani [Daniela Nieves] was sort of undeniable as Lissa, even though she had also read for Rose,” Julie revealed.
She added, “Sisi [Stringer], I think, dropped out of the equation for a while because we had seen her as Lissa, and then somebody had the wisdom to bring her back in or whatever for Rose. And then it became more undeniable. But during that window of time, we were like, ‘Where’s our Rose?’ I mean, you can’t miss that casting up. She is somebody who in the books is very fierce, very opinionated, speaks her mind, a little hot-headed, got a little temper. Even her physical description in the books is really vivid and very body positive, and we wanted to do right by that.”
Rose and Lissa’s friendship is at the heart of the books, and the same can be said for the Peacock series. “The foundation of that friendship is really the most important part of the show. It’s Rose and Lissa, two best friends in a society that would prefer they were not. And then what they then in turn are challenged to do in order to protect not only their ability to be friends with each other, but also to perhaps sort of shake up this society that is steeped in these rules that is even having an opinion about that kind of thing, if that relationship doesn’t work, then the show doesn’t work,” Julie told HollywoodLife.
The EP promised a “really vivid, powerful run about the friendship between these two women. As in the books, it’s not always smooth sailing. They’re not always on the same page. There are times where their friendship will really have to face some serious challenges, but they are the two most loyal and loving people in this world and what they mean to each other is so powerful that we just pledged to always be telling a story about that.”