Laya DeLeon Hayes on Becoming the Slayer in ‘Slayers: A Buffyverse Story’
The world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer got a bit bigger when Slayers: A Buffyverse Story came to town. At the roundtable conversations for the Audible original series, we spoke to Spike himself, James Marsters, about bringing Spike to life in a vocal performance (which was allowed since the series is for Audible and we were not allowed to ask about Buffy as a show given the SAG-AFTRA strike). And we also got to ask Slayers star Laya DeLeon Hayes about coming into the series as the new star, Indira.
The series takes us into the world of Indira as the newest slayer and Spike has to help her find her very own Watcher. When I asked her about coming into a series like this where it was the origin of the phrase the “big bad” and working with actors who have played these characters for so long, Laya DeLeon Hayes said that she was welcomed by this cast and excited to bring Indira to life.
“I mean, it was of course very nerve wracking because I’m coming into a world that I’m not aware of one,” she said, going on to talk about the rest of the cast. “And also every cast member really had their character down and each one is so distinct. I wanted to make sure that what I was bringing one was an addition and two, that it fit the tone of what was already there. But what’s so amazing about Indira, she does add, like you’re saying, this fresh perspective. I think it was nice to kind of lean into maybe my lack of knowledge on some things and kind of embrace that as something that was going to set me apart or set Indira apart from the other slayers, kind of adding this more fresh perspective on things. So that was one of those. And also having conversations with Amber and Christopher and Casey was so helpful. They were so welcoming and generous from the very beginning. It really meant a lot to me, to be able to work with them.”
Slayers: A Buffyverse Story is now available on Audible!
(featured image: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Audible)
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