’Talamasca: The Secret Order’s Nicholas Denton Wants to Share a Scene With Lestat: “I Would Absolutely Be Scared”

[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Talamasca: The Secret Order.] Summary In the AMC series ‘Talamasca: The Secret Order,’ Guy Anatole finds himself entangled with the Talamasca, uncovering family secrets and questioning everything he thought he knew. The Talamasca is full of slippery secret agents who track immortal creatures and try to keep a balance between those beings and humans. Doris’ reveal and Jasper’s violent turn make the six-episode run feel like just the beginning of the Talamasca story. The AMC series Talamasca: The Secret Order, part of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe, follows Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton), on the verge of a law career when he’s approached by Helen (Elizabeth McGovern), an agent of the Talamasca. The deeper he sinks into a world of secret agents and immortal beings, the more determined he becomes to learn what they know about his family history and to get answers about his mother. As his path intertwines with the vampire Jasper (William Fichtner), Talamasca agent Raglan James (Justin Kirk), Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), who happens to be on a book tour, and Doris (Celine Buckens), a mysterious woman who lives with a coven of witches, Guy learns that there are more layers to the supernatural world than he ever could have imagined and that everyone has secrets. During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Denton discussed the events of the season finale, entitled “The 752,” how much he knew about the Anne Rice universe before he was cast in Talamasca: The Secret Order, what he’s most enjoyed about exploring Guy’s life and world, getting to meet Daniel Molloy, whether Raglan James can be trusted, shooting that intense episode five moment when Fichtner got in his face, the conversation between Guy and Helen in the peep show, the season’s most surprising twists, how Guy feels about Doris, what Guy would like to learn about his family, and which character in Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe he’d love to have a scene with. Collider: We last spoke for Dangerous Liaisons, and while that and Talamasca: The Secret Order seem like very different TV series, you played layered characters living in a world of manipulation, trying to connect with other people while only revealing things about themselves when they have to. Are those elements that you find yourself drawn to? NICHOLAS DENTON: They are similar. What Dangerous Liaisons was to me and that character of Valmont, you had to put a lot onto him to set him apart from all the grandeur that surrounded him and the opulence of the 18th century, with all those bells and whistles, like his pink suit. Whereas Guy is very exposed. He’s such an exposed character. We really see the rawness of him because he’s got nothing to hide behind. I enjoy a good character study, no matter the genre it’s in. DENTON: It transcends time, genre, space, and class. We have all of that within us as humans. That’s what you look for when you’re watching something. You’re looking for yourself in that. If it’s done well enough and written well enough, you find yourself going, “Oh, I buy this. I don’t care if it’s set in outer space, I can still attach myself to that character or that amorphous being.” I absolutely love Interview with the Vampire. That series is perfection, so it set a pretty high bar for everything that came after in this universe. My complaint about Talamasca is that it’s only six episodes and there are still so many questions. DENTON: That’s really good to hear. I hadn’t been that well-versed in the Anne Rice universe until I got this job. I had seen Interview with the Vampire, but with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Antonio Banderas. I’d never been fully immersed in it. I do wish we got an extra two episodes, I’m not going to lie. I feel like there’s more to be seen after these six that we’ve got. There’s just so much to draw upon, especially with Louis and Lestat. The thing I love about Anne Rice’s characters is that they’ve all got this moral ambiguity, and I find that that’s most touched upon in the series of Interview with the Vampire. In the film, we know there’s a badness that exists. In the series, I really go on the journey with Louis and Lestat. For our show, it still has that moral ambiguity and we’re still honoring Anne Rice in that way, but there isn’t that much written nor ever introduced. The Queen of the Damned has a little bit of an introduction to the Talamasca. Of course, The Mayfair Witches talks about it a bit. But I feel like we’re in a lucky position because we’re given an opportunity to open up this world a bit. It has a pretty wild turn of events for all these characters, and we have some crossovers. Nicholas Denton Enjoyed Getting to Strip Away the Layers of ‘Talamasca: The Secret Order’s Guy Anatole to Find What’s Underneath “He’s been stripped of his self-worth, his identity, and his relationships.” This series really threw us in with your character and the audience has to catch up as he learns what’s going on. It’s also this story that has these fantastical elements, but you have to remind yourself of them every so often because it is grounded in reality. With those different layers, what did you find most interesting about what you could explore with this story and character? What most appealed to you about it and what did you find yourself connecting with? DENTON: Once I figure out what the core values of the character are, the core things that mean the most to them, then I can access them in some way and I can figure out what concerns them and what concerns I have in my own life that I can relate to the character. And then, I can hook onto it. That was similar with Valmont. You’re in the world with a slight disadvantage because you’ve had your life or your self-worth or your identity stripped away from you. For Guy, we meet him in the first episode when he thinks he knows what’s going on. He thinks he’s got a hold on who he is. He’s a relatively smart guy who’s pretty lonely and on the fringes of society. He’s an outsider who’s deeply trying to control everything. He’s also trying to come to terms with what’s going on inside his head and trying to control his mind. He’s medicating himself. He tries his best to be a normal person, and he’s doing a pretty good job at it. It’s not until Helen shows up and goes, “You’re all wrong, honey. This isn’t what you think it is.” He has to change everything. He’s been stripped of his self-worth, his identity, and his relationships. They’ve all been a lie. He goes, “How do I go it alone? How do I trust anything?” She says, “You’re not hearing things that are a disability or something that’s going on inside your head. It’s actually a strength and a gift. Follow your instinct.” That was so cool because I had to change tacks so quickly in that first episode, from thinking he was in control of everything to being in control of nothing and just going on the ride. I love the moment that you get to share with Eric Bogosian. Do you feel like Daniel and Guy are on a bit of the same wavelength with how skeptical they are about things and how they’d really prefer to have never gotten caught up in any of this? Do you think they could be friends? DENTON: They are both in similar situations. They’ve been done a disservice by this organization, and they now have some weird relationship to it. It’s like a toxic relationship. They’re like, “I don’t want to be here. I hate these people.” But they’re also a part of it. The Talamasca are the shadow organization of the underworld. They are the ones that are in the background watching and observing. There is a bit of contention about whether they’re controlling or manipulating, but they are really powerful, and they are a part of this Immortals world, whether you like it or not. When you find something that you both hate, it’s a very easy way to connect. That’s a place where Guy and Daniel Malloy find a little bit of a commonality. They don’t like these people. Their superpower is knowledge and fact. Once they tell you what they know, you have to join him. They tell Guy what they know about his life, and he’s got no other option but to join them or go it alone. We also get to see you interact with Raglan James, but viewers are not as familiar with who he is, as they are with Daniel. How does Guy view him? Is he loyal to the Talamasca? Does he have Guy’s best interest at heart? Does he care about anything other than himself? DENTON: That’s a really good question. To me, everyone who is a part of the Talamasca cannot necessarily be trusted. As a skeptic, from that episode, we realize why he is the way he is and why he views the world with that skeptic perspective. When he meets Raglan James, who I love, and I love Justin Kirk. He’s a tremendous actor, and I love that character. You don’t know who the hell this guy is. He is the epitome of an untrustworthy human. The way in which he interacts with people around him, you just can’t get a grasp on him. He’s like that slippery fish. He’s the hardest one to tie down, in many ways. He’s such a slippery, elusive character, and he’s a part of the Talamasca, which is indicative. They’re all corrupt in some way. No matter how much time we spend with Raglan James, I still don’t know whether I can trust him. DENTON: And you probably won’t. You’ll be like, “I still don’t get him.” But he was fun. I really enjoyed working with him. We had crossovers with vampires, but we didn’t have a crossover with an agent. We didn’t have Cip from Mayfair, but we did have Raglan. It was my first real interaction with someone from a different part of the universe, so I would ask Justin questions sometimes. I couldn’t really get much out of him, so I was like, “Are you in character?” I wasn’t sure. That character crossovers nicely. I really enjoyed those scenes. Those scenes were fantastic. Things also keep building with Jasper throughout the season. It’s hard to know what to make of him, especially because Guy can’t really read his mind. What was it like to shoot the scene in episode five, when you’re on the ground and he’s over you, yelling in your face? DENTON: We shot that at three in the morning in a car park in Manchester. It was freezing cold, and I had Bill Fichtner spitting in my face and pulling my hair. It was pretty amazing. That scene is phenomenal. His performance in that scene is really intense and visceral and guttural, but you really feel the heart inside of Jasper. You feel his rage. What we know of him is as a calm, cool, collected, and contained cat. He can do anything. But he loses it in that moment. That is a really important moment because you just see this feeling of betrayal. That’s really important to show in that episode what happens when things go wrong for Jasper. Did you know how that was going to play out? Had you talked about how that scene would work, or did you just jump in and see how it would go? DENTON: We’ve got an amazing stunt team. We all talked about how much of it was going to be me and how much was going to be Bill. There were a lot of sequences where vampiric qualities come out and you see those movements. For me and Bill, we formed a really strong relationship. This was the last block of shooting and we knew each other. Me and Bill were always roughhousing in a weird, brotherly way. I was game to just go with him on that journey of attacking me. At one point, I was like, “Please stop pulling my hair” because then we had to fix it every time. He was like, “Oh, no worries, brother.” And then, he ripped my entire head of hair off. He’s my friend, so it was cool to do that with him. At least I got to keep my hair. I love how to have a conversation with Guy, Helen has to go sit in a peep show room and put a coin in the slot. There’s something so brilliantly strange and fun about that. What was it like to play a bit of that role reversal between those characters, and to have Guy be the one making her do what he’s telling her to do and forcing her to listen to him? DENTON: I was told about that scene really early on by (show creator) John Lee [Hancock]. We were talking about power dynamics and power shifting and what we need to get Guy to have the upper foot against Helen, who is a formidable force. We couldn’t really have it out in the street because we needed to have Helen want to stay there, and we needed to have Helen invest in it from the top. So, putting that coin in the slot means she’s on the ride. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen after. She doesn’t know what he’s going to ask for and what he needs from her, but I like that because she’s involved. As soon as that coin goes in, she’s involved and Guy can start. When the time ends and she has to put in another coin and you both laugh about it, it was fun that you acknowledge the silliness of that moment. DENTON: Wasn’t that amazing? We had a really hard time figuring that part out. The curtains close because the time is up. I was working with Elizabeth [McGovern] and the director, and we were trying to figure it out. John Lee was there. Mark Lafferty was there. I was like, “I don’t get it. Why does this close?” And then, Elizabeth turned to me and went, “It means the facade is ruined. This facade is gone now. He has to drop the act because look at how insane this is. He’s brought her here. He’s made her put a coin in the slot. The reality is that they’re in a peep show booth in a strip club. What are we doing?” It brought it to a very a different level and a very emotional level. There’s a wee bit of levity in him trying to get on the front foot. And then, he has to go to this other place where he asks for some help in a very serious way and it exposes a lot of things about Helen. Nicholas Denton Discusses His Favorite ‘Talamasca: The Secret Order’ Twist This Season “I still felt unsure of what to believe.” Everything just keeps spiraling. At first, we’re trying to figure out who Helen is. And then, we want to know what happened to Keves. And then, we’re hunting a book. At the same time, we learn that Guy’s handler, Olive, is up to no good. And with all of this, Guy is just trying to survive. What twist most surprised you this season? DENTON: There’s the big twist. Of course, there’s the book. There’s the 752 and that amazing sequence with Doris. But the one that I had a fun time working with was when Guy was unsure if he’s getting involved with Jasper, or if he’s playing the card of being the corrupted Talamasca double agent. I would never know how it was fluctuating. Is he in this camp with the immortals, with the vampires, or is he still over here with the Talamasca? He’s not too dissimilar from Jasper or Daniel. There are qualities in them that he sees in himself. And so, I was pleasantly surprised by how they cut that scene, especially at the end of episode three, with Guy and Jasper. I didn’t really know. I still felt unsure of what to believe, which was cool. Before you even find out the situation with the book, I did not realize that Doris was Helen’s sister. With the age difference, it’s just not something that you consider, so that was surprising to me. DENTON: I love it because there is this connection between vampires and staying at a certain age. You wonder what Helen thinks about seeing Doris, and Doris looking at Helen. That’s a really amazing sequence, especially in the scene with Ridge and Guy and Doris in the police station when it all comes to fruition. I do see a similarity between Elizabeth and Celine [Buckens]. I buy it. I love that sequence. I love the dramatic qualities in that sequence. It’s a great twist. Doris is the sister, and then she’s a vampire, and then she’s also the book. She really can’t catch a break. DENTON: You become really interested in Doris. You become very fascinated by this character and the troubles that she’s gone through because of those last two episodes. You really get hooked in by the mystery of it. Celine Buckens is just amazing in that role. That’s why I want those two more episodes. I want to see where this goes. Guy has said that he wants to part ways with Doris, but after everything he learns, do you think that’s changed? What do you want to happen with those two characters? DENTON: I just think he wants his family. We did talk about where their relationship would go. Is it a platonic thing? Is it a business transaction? Is it a love connection? And it’s kind of everything. His real mission is to find his family. Guy has got no other thing. He’s drifting. He needs an answer, and he’s only going to get that from his own flesh and blood. It feels like we’re barely scratching the surface of the Talamasca. It feels like there are still so many layers of things that Guy doesn’t know and that he’s curious about. Aside from wanting to find his family, what do you think he wants to learn about them? DENTON: He’s got no choice but to involve himself with them. He has to figure out who they are because they have so much information on who his family is. They are his access point. Doris is too, to an extent. Since we found out what happened with the book, we now know that she has intel. The Talamasca has got the knowledge, and Guy wants to figure out how they’ve got it, where they got it from, and how they’re using it. That’s very important. Knowledge is power, and he needs to get deep inside their mainframe to figure out where everything is in his life. Because you’ve got to do so many wild things this season, just with the characters that you were interacting with, what is the most fun thing you got to do this season that you likely could not have done on any other show, telling any other story? DENTON: There are a few. We were shooting in Manchester, under a bridge, at 3 or 4 in the morning, and we’d somehow managed to have a night where we had every revenant in the entire series in one scene. It was a really epic sequence. It was amazing with lots of stunts. Someone had spoken to them all and asked if they were willing to do an impersonation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” dance. We had an ambulance on set to have a paramedic there on hand to look out for us, and they decided to switch on their red and blue lights. For some reason, everyone crowded around and I witnessed 15 fully grown revenants doing a complete choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with an ambulance light on. I have never seen that before and I will never see that again. That was so epic. I should send you the video. It was so amazing. The other really important one was the end of episode four. The vicious, violent nature of that, with Howard Berger and his team creating this monster mass mayhem was so fun. We shot that sequence for a week and three days. It was 132 shots. It was so epic and so much fun, but we were completely delusional by the end. It’s such an amazing sequence. I love it. The imagery and everything was so cool. There’s levity that needs to be had with the absurdity of Guy going, “What is going on?” There are many funny moments throughout it, which is so important. Nicholas Denton Is Open to Appearing Anywhere Within the Anne Rice Immortal Universe “If someone calls me, I’ll go do it.” Are you hoping that something will come up, so that you’ll have to appear on Interview with the Vampire or The Mayfair Witches? Who would you like to see Guy interact with from the other shows? DENTON: I don’t know. I’d love to work with all those actors. I think they’re amazing actors. Our series is coinciding on a timeline with Interview because we’ve got Daniel Molloy’s book in ours. I’d like to have a bit of an Australian-off with Sam Reid. Lestat and Guy would have a very interesting dynamic. God knows how that would work, but it would be interesting. I think I would be absolutely scared shitless, but it would be fun. But I love the Talamasca crew. I love this world and I’m so keen to get this shaped and on its feet before we start blowing everything open. That being said, if someone calls me, I’ll go do it. Talamasca: The Secret Order airs on AMC and is available to stream on AMC+. Check out the trailer:.
https://collider.com/talamasca-the-secret-order-finale-nicholas-denton-interview-with-the-vampire-lestat/

You may also like

Airport Meltdown: Southwest Passenger Screams At Staff Over Delay — Same Person Reportedly Booted From Another Flight

2025 年 11 月 23 日

CZ’s Nemesis Whale Becomes Largest Ethereum (ETH) Long Holder on Hyperliquid Despite $18.8M Unrealized Loss

2025 年 11 月 23 日

Always Moving: Jonesboro Invests in Community Connections

2025 年 11 月 23 日