Things are getting super tense on the 2025 TV schedule thanks to Mayfair Witches Season 2, but we’re living for all the developments on the series from AMC’s Anne Rice universe. Alexandra Daddario’s Rowan is specifically dealing with a lot of animosity from fellow witch Moira Mayfair, played by this season’s newcomer, Alyssa Jirrels. However, in contrast to their roles, per CinemaBlend’s interview with Jirrels, Daddario was a huge support to her on her first season of the TV show.
Mayfair Witches' Alyssa Jirrels Gushes Over Working With Alexandra Daddario
Jirrels’ Moira and Daddario’s Rowan have been at odds all season on Mayfair Witches. It’s understandable after Moira has lost both her sister Tessa and her mother since Rowan joined the coven of Mayfairs. However, in real life, things are a lot less tense between the actresses who play these characters.
When I spoke to Jirrels about working alongside Daddario on Season 2, she shared the sweet support the show’s lead offered her, saying:
We just had so much fun. I genuinely loved [working with Alexandra Daddario]. I'm so grateful for her and she was like, not only a really wonderful scene partner and just like an awesome actress, but such an honest person. I talked so much with her just about being an actress in this industry and how she felt when she was around my age and her experience sort of over the years. And, I found her to just be like very easy to talk to and very sort of no-frills, really accessible.
Jirrels has credits dating back a decade (since she was 14), but she’s really just getting started in Hollywood. Prior to earning a key role on Mayfair Witches, her most high-profile TV role was in the cast of Fatal Attraction alongside Joshua Jackson and Lizzy Caplan. However, it feels like she's found something magical with Daddario, explaining:
And, she introduced me to some of my new favorite music, which is a band called Frightened Rabbit. And she let me and my best friend stay in her house in New York, and she took me to Bordeaux. So she's done some really amazing things. Like, I'm very grateful to her. I feel lucky to know her for sure.
Surprisingly, the pair of actresses are 14 years apart in age, and Daddario certainly has a breadth of experience to share given she’s been acting since she was a teen as well. It sounds like she and Jirrels really bonded on set, and The White Lotus actress (who was pregnant during filming before having a 2024 Halloween baby) was the sweetest co-star to have around.
Why The Mayfair Witches Actress Actually Loves That There’s ‘A Lot Of Opinions’ About The Series
One would think it’s not easy being the star of a series with as many divisive reactions as Mayfair Witches can get due to creative shifts from the Anne Rice book. However, during our interview, Jirrels revealed the very healthy way she deals with being on a show with “a lot of opinions”. Of course, Jirrels has been exposed to people’s thoughts online about Mayfair Witches, but as she told me, she actually loves how passionate fans are. In her words:
There's always gonna be opinions, but it's more that I'm like, ‘Oh my God, that's right. Like, people watch it.’ You just forget when you're shooting like, ‘Oh, this is not just for fun?’ like this is gonna go on television? Like, that's crazy. Regardless of what people think, the fact that people care enough to have opinions about it is kind of sick… the fact that anybody sees it at all is really great to me.
Jirrels told me she’s not exactly a fan of the supernatural genre herself, but really appreciates how the fandom “goes so hard.” Since getting the role, she’s been dipping her toe into the Anne Rice universe, too, as she said:
I read a bit of Lasher when I was on the plane to New Orleans and I liked listening to it. It's super interesting. I mean, I wanted to read about it more for like, 'cause at this time I don't think I'd even really talked to Esta yet about the differences between like Mona and Moira. 'cause that was kind of originally who the character was based on. And there's obviously a lot of differences. So I just remember reading it and being like, ‘Oh my God, this 13-year-old is doing some insane stuff 'cause there's some classic Anne Rice-isms in that book.
As fans of the series most certainly know, Mayfair Witches has taken its own creative liberties with the source material, and it differs quite a bit from the books. For example, Moira Mayfair isn’t even in the books, but a new character that was inspired by Mona Mayfair. When Jirrels was on her way to the set in New Orleans, she opened up the second Mayfair Witches book, Lasher, which Season 2 is loosely based on. Now, she’s definitely inspired to keep reading more Anne Rice books, but she’s got a lot to catch up on!
You can see Jirrels on the next episode of Mayfair Witches this Sunday on AMC and check out what other upcoming horror TV shows are on the way.
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