Mayfair Witches: Annabeth Gish Reveals the Role She Originally Wanted to Play (Exclusive)

In Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches, Annabeth Gish plays Deirdre Mayfair, the biological mother of Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) and arguably one of the story's most tragic figures. While much of the AMC series centers around Rowan's story, Deirdre's own is a major part of with viewers being brought into her life as a powerful witch who is unfortunately kept prisoner by her Aunt Carlotta (Beth Grant) in an effort to keep the sinister entity Lasher (Jack Huston) at bay. But while Gish brings Deirdre's tragic tale to life brilliantly in Mayfair Witches, it turns out that there is a different role from the novel it's based on, The Witching Hour, that Gish originally wanted to play back when the novel was first released in the 1990s.

Speaking with ComicBook.com, Gish revealed that she's not only a huge fan of Rice's work and especially The Witching Hour, but she originally wanted to play Rowan when the novel was first released.

"I wanted to play Rowan when the book came out," Gish said. "I still have my hardback copy. It's dog eared. And even more than Interview With the Vampire, this was the book that I loved, The Witching Hour. I still have my big one. I'll never forget where I was in my apartment when I called my agents at the time and I was like, 'I've just read this book, I want to play Rowan." And so, years later, here we are and I'm so grateful just to be a part of it because I feel, on some level, I'm a part of Anne Rice. Just sitting filming some of those scenes on the First Street porch in New Orleans, I kept trying to invoke, with the heat and the Spanish moss and everything, you just want to invoke... you just hope that Anne Rice is proud."

Why does Mayfair Witches center around Rowan?

While the book Mayfair Witches is based on, The Witching Hour, encompasses centuries Mayfair witches with Rowan's story being just one -- albeit significant -- part, centering the series around Rowan's story more directly was a decision that series co-creators Esta Spalding and Michelle Johns credit to executive producer Mark Johnson, who told ComicBook.com that he felt it was the obvious choice, especially with the story examining the idea of women, power, and men who struggle to deal with the idea of powerful women.

"I think it's just so obvious. We are all constantly, hopefully in some form of auto examination," he said. "'Who am I and where do I come from?' And this woman who begins to realize that she was not adopted in the circumstances she thought and digs and digs and starts to find out things about herself that both scares her and fascinates her. And you're right; we're fascinated by witches. I can't help but feel that witches are created by men who are having trouble dealing with powerful women and the only way they can explain it is they're something other than just human beings. And Michelle and Esta, I know, embrace this because of how strongly they feel about telling women's stories."

What is Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches about? {replyCount}comments

The series synopsis is as follows: "Based on Anne Rice's Lives of the Mayfair Witches, Mayfair Witches is an exploration of female power and the mortal implications of our decisions. Mayfair Witches focuses on an intuitive young neurosurgeon (Alexandra Daddario) who discovers that 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's Mayfair Witches airs Sundays on AMC and AMC+.

* This article was originally published here