Pop-Culturalist.com

Andrew Liner, André Dae Kim, and Kieron Moore are three of the stars of the must-see new series, Vampire Academy.

From executive producers, Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre comes a story of friendship, romance, and danger. In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women’s friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society. One as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage ‘Strigoi’ who threaten to tear their society apart. That is, if Royal infighting doesn’t do the job first.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Andrew, André, and Kieron about Vampire Academy, their character’s arc, and more.

PC: Andrew, Mason has this really interesting rivalry and relationship with Rose. What was that collaboration like working with Sisi [Stringer] as you brought that dynamic to life? Did you feel any pressure just given how beloved that relationship is to the fans?
Andrew: I think the whole point of that relationship is that it’s so real and full of love and care and that it’s really grounded. Of course, you feel the nerves and the pressures that come along with that. But Sisi is great. She’s so easy and fun to be around. You hit the nail on the head with that relationship. It’s really important. The fans love it and connect with Rose and Mason. It was such a joy to bring to life.

PC: André, Christian faces a lot of adversity based on the decisions that his parents have made, and you handle that with so much nuance as an actor. How did you create the space for yourself to dive into that emotional arc?
André: Thank you so much. That space was given to us! We have a wonderful crew and team that really helped us traverse our characters and find ourselves and what we wanted to play out through that process. I was so lucky to be working with not only these guys, but our crew, our writing team, our production team, and our producers as well. He does face a lot of adversity in a lot of ways. You could sit there and be like, “That’s so unfair. That’s what my parents did. I didn’t even do that. Why is it my fault?”

With Christian, it’s all about playing that jaded side of him, but also trying to struggle against that and find the joy, the beauty, and the light in this world—and in a lot of ways, find it through other people. People will see that and hopefully relate to it a bit. I know I did.

PC: Kieron, Dimitri emerges as this mentor to the rest of the guardians. Who were the mentors in your life who shaped the artist that you are today, and did you draw any parallels from them as you stepped into Dimitri’s shoes?
Kieron: Oh wow. That’s a great question. There have been huge influences in my life, and they’ve come at different stages. I used to box. My dad was my coach from a very young age. He was the first person I ever looked up to and was molded by. Elements of our own truth come through in our performance I believe. They help give us insights in order to take ourselves away from the character. We have to see the world through our own eyes.

But I’ve been lucky as my acting career has started to unfold. I’ve not been in this industry for long. Every day, these guys mentor me. The production team, my agents, my publicist, everyone helps me trust myself, and that’s a core element of Dimitri. There’s a huge element in him that has to do with trusting himself. That’s his job. I’m very lucky for the people in my life.

André: We’re lucky to have you.

PC: This series is being adapted from a really popular book series, and these characters are so beloved by so many. What’s something new that you wanted to bring to each of your characters, and what’s something that you wanted to make sure translated from the page to the screen?
Andrew: Great question.

Kieron: Great question. For me, it’s the responsibility that came with Dimitri. I know the awe that there is for him, and that’s a huge thing to step into, but for me, it was about more than the physicality. It was more than his brute strength. It was more than his skills. I wanted people to see that there’s a living, breathing person under there that might need understanding. It was a beautiful thing in the breakdown: underneath all this lethalness is passion. That’s something that I was like, “I hope I can unravel. I hope people fall in love with Dimitri in a different way.”

Andrew: To piggyback off that, in the book Dimitri is tall and strong and has long, black hair, but I think what Kieron does so beautifully is that you see the man behind the eyes. It translates really well. Plus, he’s got a gorgeous little face.

André: I was going to say, he’s also tall and strong.

Kieron: I’m not six feet seven. I’m starting to blush, talk about Mason.

Andrew: For me, it’s Mason’s relationship with Rose. I hope we brought that to life.

André: For Christian, there was an element in the book that a lot of fans told me about and that I saw when I read the book, and that was his snarkiness and how he uses it as a defense mechanism against the world. He has a dry, dark humor that’s like, “I don’t care.” That was something I wanted to keep with Christian.

The book is from the perspective of Rose, so we don’t get a lot of moments in the book where you get to see what Christian is like by himself. That’s something we had to take on for a lot of the characters on the show. In my breakdown, Christian is very thoughtful. I wanted to show that a bit too. I wanted to show his thoughtful side when he’s alone. What does Christian look like when he’s by himself? That’s something I was excited to bring.

Make sure to follow Andrew (Instagram), André (Twitter/Instagram), and Kieron (Instagram). Watch Vampire Academy on Peacock today.