Episode 4 of The Vampire Lestat Brings Back a Surprising Doppelgänger

Episode 4, "The Devil's Road," brings Delainey Hayles back in a new role: Regina, a human doppelgänger of Claudia. Showrunner Rolin Jones and his team wrote original material to keep Hayles in a major capacity, rather than reintroducing her as Claudia's ghost or a figment of one of her fathers' imaginations.

Hayles differentiates Regina from Bailey Bass's Claudia, retaining a British accent while making the character assertive, playful, self-assured, determined, intuitive and wary. Framed as a fully formed individual, Regina believes Louis's vampire biography and grapples with her known reality undergoing an unfathomable upheaval instead of collapsing into disbelief.

Louis's reaction to Regina highlights his unraveling. Executing Claudia's abuser, Bruce, failed to bring closure, and he attempts to recapture a permanent loss through Regina — even paying her to play pretend. The moment Regina adopts a perfect New Orleans accent while Louis watches underscores how quickly he falls back into old, self-destructive habits.

United States, New Orleans

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