Yahoo Lifestyle Alyssa Jirrels and Ben Feldman Share Why Joining Anne Rice's “Mayfair Witches” Cast Was So Easy
The two new cast members, who will make their debut in the Season 2 premiere of 'Mayfair Witches', also talk about exploring the very festive New Orleans filming locations.
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Actors Tongayi Chirisa, Charlayne Woodard, Alyssa Jirrels, Harry Hamlin, Jen Richards and Ben Feldman attend the Los Angeles Premiere of AMC's "Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches" Season 2 at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever on December 05, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.When Season 2 of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches premieres on Sunday, Jan. 5 on AMC, fans will be introduced to two new characters played by Alyssa Jirrels and Ben Feldman.
During an exclusive screening of the Season 2 premiere hosted by Entertainment Weekly at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Thursday, Dec. 5, the two actors revealed that they slipped into their roles and the witchy world of the show with ease.
Jirrel, 24, plays Moira Mayfair, a character based on Mona Mayfair from the books. Moira is the sister of Tessa (played by actress Madison Wolf), a witch who perished during the penultimate episode of the first season. Before diving into the role, it seems Jirrel did her homework.
“I read some of the second book. I watched the first season” replied Jirrel after EW’s moderator and senior writer Maureen Lee Lenker asked how she prepared for the role. “And, I said this earlier, it is an amazing group of people to come into as a newbie. It's a really fantastic environment to be in, and it's wild.”
“I think Moira doesn't feel welcome and she's also quite an outsider, so there was a lot that I kind of utilized in that capacity,” she adds.
Amanda Edwards/Getty
Actors Tongayi Chirisa, Charlayne Woodard, Dimitri Hamlin, Harry Hamlin, Lisa Rinna, Alyssa Jirrels, Jen Richards and Ben Feldman attend the Los Angeles Premiere of AMC's "Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches" Season 2 at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever on December 05, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Related: Harry Hamlin Reveals His Parenting Advice for Mayfair Witches Costar Alexandra Daddario (Exclusive)
Feldman, 44, joins the cast as Sam “Lark” Larkin — a successful CEO of a genetics startup who is also the former boyfriend to neuroscientist Rowan Fielding (played by Alexandra Daddario). And not having to access his inner witch did make his job a bit easier.
“[Jirrel] had a harder job than me because she has connections to this world and the part of this family and these powers, and I'm just a guy who showed up,” said Feldman of his initial impressions on set. “So it was relatively easy for me. I was sort of just playing myself in a way because my job was to go, ‘What's going on?’ “
Much like Interview with the Vampire, another AMC show based on an Anne Rice novel, Mayfair Witches is filmed on location in New Orleans. For Jirrel and Feldman, exploring the area was a highlight for them while filming Season 2.
Related: Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna Make Extremely Rare Red Carpet Appearance with His Son Dimitri
John Salangsang/Shutterstock for EW/AMC
Cast members Harry Hamlin and Alyssa Jirrels doing the Mayfair Witches panel“I think it's very important to me to go to drink and eat, and make sure that everyone does that at some point,” recalls Feldman when asked if the cast ever went out and had some fun on Bourbon Street.
“There was just a parade every day,” adds Jirrel, who also marveled at some of the area’s culture and festivities. “I was sitting in a yoga class and they were talking about the Easter Parade and the Day-Before Easter parade, the Day-After-Easter Parade, the Tuesday-After-Easter Parade and then Sunday morning. It was just ridiculous."
"And the parades all have themes, like there's one where they throw vegetables at you," she said, before joking that they avoided the Mardi Gras madness altogether. "We went and saw jazz. We were very sophisticated.
Watch Mayfair Witches when it returns to AMC on Jan. 5.
Read the original article on People
