Vampire Academy Series: Release Date, Trailer, Cast, and Everything Else to Know

The wait is nearly over. Vampire Academy, the Peacock series adapted from Richelle Mead's YA novels of the same name, premieres this week. The fantasy drama comes from Julie Plec — who was behind The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies — and Marguerite MacIntyre. "Though we have loved Richelle Mead's wholly original book series since it came out 15 years ago, it has never been more timely," Plec and MacInytyre said in a press release. "A brilliant exploration of an inherently unbalanced class-based society, with pampered Royals on one end, and a Guardian class whose sole purpose is to protect them on the other, as well as an ugly dynastic change on the horizon, it's a world teetering on the edge."

The books follow Rose Hathaway, a teen Dhampir, or half-vampire, half-human, training at St. Vladimir's Academy. Her mission is simple: to become a Guardian of her best friend Lissa Dragomir, a Moroi vampire and the last of her royal family. At the academy, Rose falls in love with a Dhampir Guardian named Dimitri Belikov while she explores a psychic bond with Lissa.

Peacock has described Vampire Academy as a "sexy drama" that "combines the elegance of aristocratic romance and the supernatural thrills of the vampire genre." It will consist of 10 one-hour episodes. 

Here's everything we know about Peacock's Vampire Academy so far. 

Release Date

Vampire Academy premieres on Peacock Thursday, Sept. 15. Four episodes will drop on that date, followed by new episodes released weekly every Thursday.

Official Trailer

The official trailer for Vampire Academy was posted on Aug. 17, and it gave us a much closer look at St. Vladimir's Academy. Daniela Nieves' Lissa takes on a new role as the head of the Dragomir family, and she knows how she wants to lead. "I can be a leader, who ruled not just for the royals, but for all citizens," she says.  The video also showed plenty of scenes between Lissa and her best friend Rose Hathaway (Sisi Stringer), who is determined to protecting Lissa. See the full trailer below.

Peacock dropped the teaser for Vampire Academy at 2022's San Diego International Comic-Con. The video gave a glimpse of the show's central characters: Rose, Lissa, Kieron Moore's Dimitri Belikov, and Andre Dae Kim's Christian Ozera. Rose, who is training to become a Guardian, tells Dmitri she wants to protect Lissa from danger. From the teaser, it seems likely that the Strigoi — bloodthirsty vampires who murder — are responsible for much of the danger. The video also teases some steamy kisses, including one between Lissa and Christian. See the full teaser below.

First Look

Peacock also shared first look images of the show at Comic-Con. In one photo, Rose and Dmitri share a moment. 

In another, Lissa stares intimately into Christian's eyes.

There is also a photo of Dmitri training. He is the model Dhampir Guardian, after all.

In "What's Coming to Peacock in 2022?" the streamer teased first footage of the series. Across two short seconds, we see one shot of Stringer's Rose Hathaway with Nieves' Lissa Dragomir — and another of an action-packed fight scene that appears to take place on the school grounds. "I want to protect my best friend," Rose tells Lissa in the first shot. The Vampire Academy footage starts at 0:39 in the clip. 

Cast

Sisi Stringer plays the lead character Rose Hathaway. She is bent on protecting the benevolent Moroi vampires from the Strigoi. Daniela Nieves plays Lissa Dragomir, Rose's best friend who becomes the head of the Dragomir family. Stringer and Nieves are joined by Kieron Moore, who stars as Dimitri Belikov—the Dhampir guardian that is Rose's love interest.

André Dae Kim will play Christian Ozera, a royal Moroi vampire searching for faith-based answers to his questions about the world. J. August Richards stars as Victor Dashkov, also a Moroi vampire but one that specializes in political strategy. Meanwhile, Anita-Joy Uwajeh stars as Moroi vampire Tatiana Vogel who is a political underdog.

Mia McKenna-Bruce joins the cast as Mia Karp, a fellow student at St. Vladimir's Academy. Rhian Blundell plays Meredith, a guardian-in-training who develops instant chemistry with Mia. Jonetta Kaiser stars as Sonya Karp and Andrew Liner as Mason Ashford.

Behind the Scenes

Emily Cummins, Don Murphy, Susan Montford, Deepak Nayar, and Jillian DeFrehn will executive-produce Vampire Academy while Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre serve as showrunners. Peacock has announced that Spain will be the filming location for the series.

How to Watch

Vampire Academy will be available to stream on Peacock on Thursday, Sept. 15.