‘Mayfair Witches’ producers tease the introduction of the Scottish Mayfairs

Buckle up, because things are about to get wyrd.

Mayfair Witches is off to the misty isles of Scotland in its second season, introducing us to new members of the family who still live in the ancestral homelands of their witchy dynasty. And considering that Macbeth helped popularize our modern-day conception of witches, well, Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) might want to be prepared for new horrors.

“The central story of the season is Rowan trying to become the leader of the Mayfair family and discovering the mysteries of the family,” said showrunner Esta Spalding at the season 2 premiere in L.A., cohosted by Entertainment Weekly and AMC. “Particularly how they plan to use or incorporate Lasher into the family.”

“This is giving a little bit away, but it turns out there is another part of the Mayfair family in Scotland,” she continued. That’s very true to Anne Rice’s book, Lasher, the second book has a section in Scotland. So, there are these delicious Scottish Mayfairs who are really diabolical.”

That’s party because of their connection to Julien Mayfair, a new character played by Ted Levine, who is the father of Harry Hamlin’s Cortland Mayfair. “The thing about the Scottish Mayfairs is that they’re very in the thrall of Julien,” Spalding added. “So, they’ve been trained in some way. They’re connected to Julien in some way.”

Given how much history of witchcraft and witchy lore is tied to Scotland, executive producer Mark Johnson (and overseer of AMC’s entire Anne Rice universe) warned that audiences should be prepared for a group of witches who are far more dogmatic than the New Orleans’ Mayfairs.

“They truly are chained to tradition,” Johnson said. “Our characters are upstart Americans who are just discovering what the legacy of the Mayfairs is when they get to Scotland.”

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Production did shoot in Ireland as a stand-in for Scotland, but many Scottish actors and advisors were on hand to help make sure the end result would feel as authentic as possible.

Mayfair Witches returns to AMC and AMC+ for season 2 on Jan. 5.