In AMC’s latest entry in the Immortal Universe, Anne Rice Mayfair WitchesWhile the supernatural entity Lasher (Jack Huston) is positioned as a major threat to Roan (Alexandra Daddario) as she finds herself discovering more and more of herself and her heritage with the Mayfair family, he’s not the only somewhat dark force to be reckoned with. Rowan’s great aunt, Carlotta Mayfair, is also a threat. Viewers saw Carlotta go to extraordinary measures in the name of protecting the family, including keeping Deirdre (Annabeth Gish) sedated for years and taking Rowan at birth, not to mention sacrificing Deirdre’s job, Delphine (Dennen Tyler), in the name of trying to put Lasher away.
This week, Carlotta takes more action in her efforts against Lasher and the family’s dark legacy, but when I ask her ComicBook.com If she thinks Carlotta is evil or a victim of family darkness, Beth Grant said she sees fans of the character come to love hating them as something in between — and as a very human person.
Warning: spoilers for the fourth episode of Anne Rice Mayfair Witches“Curiouser and Curiouser”, after this point.
“It’s something in between, like all of us. I don’t think any of us are victims. We can all choose. I can look back on my life and I can look back and I can say, ‘Oh, poor me’ or I can say, ‘Blessed, blessed, lucky’ Son of Venice.” And so, I think somewhere in between, it’s humanity stuck in this huge maze, this family. How do you navigate it? “
Grant also knows that fans love her performance as Carlotta — and love hating Aunt Rowan at the same time. For Grant, it comes down to the rich mythology of this powerful family created by Anne Rice and the complexity of each of the women within it.
“It feels great,” she said. “I don’t see her as a bad guy at all.” Therefore, I understand that there must be complex characters in the story [Rice’s] mythology. And she is well-intentioned. She is just misleading, and she herself will riot. She tries to do what she thinks is best for everyone, but you can’t suppress your dark side. Unfortunately, I have been led astray by, ironically, the person who is trying to be good and save the family. But yeah, I get that people enjoy hating her.”
Grant also made it clear that while things took a deadly turn at the end of this week’s episode, she doesn’t think Carlotta necessarily wanted to burn everything, literally. I just fell into a very sad moment of deep heartbreak.
“I don’t think she necessarily planned to burn down the house, but she makes the decision at the dinner table, and then through prayer, through incantation, through prayer for Antha, prayer for Stella, it happens,” Grant said. “And she certainly didn’t mean to stab Ciprien… I think it’s a very spontaneous moment right now and it’s a very sad moment for her. She’s heartbroken. She’s human.”
What is it Anne Rice Mayfair Witches Around?
The series is based on the trilogy of novels by Anne Rice. Lives of the Mayfair Witches. The synopsis of the series is as follows: “Based on the story by Anne Rice Lives of the Mayfair WitchesAnd Mayfair Witches is an exploration of the power of women and the deadly effects of our decisions. Mayfair Witches centers on an intuitive young neurosurgeon (Alexandra Daddario) who discovers she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations.”
Anne Rice Mayfair Witches It airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC and AMC+.
