Claudia is a 6-year-old vampire child. She has long curly golden hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She is described as resembling a perfect painted china doll.
Her Mortal Life
Louis found six-year-old Claudia in 1795 grieving over her dead mother's plague-stricken body. Half starved from feeding only on rat's blood, he drank from Claudia in a frenzy. When he was discovered by Lestat he left Claudia for dead and ran in disgrace as Lestat danced madly with a corpse. Concerned citizens brought Claudia to a make-shift hospital for orphans of plague victims. Claudia, infected with the plague and weak from Louis's feeding, became delirious. Lestat, posing as her father, took Claudia from the hospital.
Louis was horrified upon his return to Rue Royale to find Lestat had brought the girl home. Lestat offered Claudia his wrist and turned her into a Vampire, much to Louis's dismay.
Life as a Vampire
Claudia stayed with Louis and Lestat for 75 years, slowly growing angry at her maker for giving her the Dark Gift at such a young age. One night, she rebelled against Lestat by offering him two dead boys on laudanum. Dead blood is fatal to a vampire, but Lestat survived Claudia's attempt to poison him.
Claudia plotting revenge.
Louis set fire to Rue Royale with Lestat still inside, and the two escaped to Europe. There they met Armand and his coven at the Theatre des Vampires, and Louis became infatuated with him. Claudia's treachery toward Lestat was discovered by the vampires there and she was killed for it when they exposed her to sunlight; vampires consider it a crime to kill each other. In truth, Lestat was not dead, but weakened severely enough it took him years to recover.
Louis never got over Claudia's death; his infatuation with Armand ended because he felt Armand was partially responsible. In The Tale of the Body Thief, Lestat has visions of Claudia in his dreams, proving he did not get over her demise either.
Movie
In the 1994 movie adaptation of Interview with the Vampire, Claudia is portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, who was twelve years old at the time. Because a six-year-old was highly unlikely to understand and play a character with the necessary emotional depth, an older actress (Kirsten Dunst) was used instead.
Broadway Musical
Claudia was given two solos in the musical production of Lestat: "I Want More", her "plea" to Lestat and Louis that she was sick of being a sweet little girl, unmasking her dormant desire to hunt, and "I'll Never Have That Chance", a somber lament sung when the anti-heroine realizes she will never get to grow up and experience a normal life. She was portrayed by Allison Fischer and her performance is often regarded as the highlight of the show.