Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy books are finally getting an in-depth adaptation. Bringing Lissa Dragomir, Rose Hathaway, and their regal vampire society to the small screen are creators Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre of The Vampire Diaries and Daniela Nieves and Sisi Stringer as Lissa and Rose. André Dae Kim and Kieron Moore play their love interests, Christian Ozera and Dimitri Belikov, and the group revealed how Vampire Academy will set itself apart from the already packed genre to Emily Aslanian in the TV Insider and TV Guide Magazine studio, sponsored by Hollywood unBranded at San Diego Comic-Con 2022.
Peacock‘s Vampire Academy has all the staples of the vampire genre: timeless romance, bloodthirsty creatures, supernatural gifts. But one thing it doesn’t have? Humans. Yes, other than to feed, humans play no meaningful role in this world. Rather, Vampire Academy depicts the waning social hierarchy of this royal vampire society.
“One thing that I can confidently say, having already made three vampire shows, is that this particular vampire show looks unlike anything I’ve personally ever made or seen,” Plec said of her newest night-walker show. “We shot in Europe, in Spain, we had castles, we had rolling meadows, we had mountains. We had everything that was so gorgeous to shoot. So in addition to a really unique story, a unique vampire mythology, and this gorgeous group of people, everything we turned the camera on to shoot is just a real spectacle.”
“There are a lot of different rules than your average vampire show,” Macintyre explained of the world’s social structure. “To start, the Moroi are actually mortal. They live longer than humans, but they can die. They feed, they’re very civilized, but they’re not violent. They don’t take anyone’s life, unlike the Strogoi. They’re like monsters, they’re really scary.”
As fans of the books know, Lissa is a royal Moroi vampire and Rose is her would-be Dhampir bodyguard. The Moroi reject the viciousness of their vampire nature, opting to humanely feed on people and never using their own physical abilities for protection. They study at St. Vladimir’s Academy, where Rose trains to one day be Lissa’s assigned protector. But their desire to be assigned together descends their society into chaos when the rest of the ruling class want something different from the Dragomir line.
Nieves said their sisterly bond “is kind of unheard of in this world,” but when tragedy strikes, the friends “realize that they can’t live this life anymore.”
“At the core of the story is this beautiful relationship,” Stringer added. “I think we’ve represented female friendship really well.”
Learn more about the rich world of the Vampire Academy — and why Plec just can’t get enough of vampires — in the full video interview, above.
Vampire Academy, Series Premiere, September 15, Peacock