Anderson missed Lestat just as much as everyone else.
The Big Picture
- Lestat’s “demise” in Season 1 didn’t stop his return in Season 2, as Louis hallucinates him in the premiere.
- Louis’s troubled mind still can’t let go of Lestat, despite their toxic relationship, leading to emotional stakes.
- AMC’s
Interview With the Vampire
finds a way to include Lestat in a captivating way, with Reid in the role.
Lestat’s (Sam Reid) apparent demise at the end of Interview With the Vampire Season 1 didn’t stop his reprisal in the new season. Jacob Anderson told Entertainment Weekly that interacting with his old scene partner in the Season 2 premiere was a delight. The last fans saw Lestat was following Louis (Anderson) and Claudia’s (Bailey Bass) botched murder attempt. Not quite dead yet, Lestat survives by feasting on rats, where he presumably still is. Reid’s appearance in the premiere was in the form of a hallucination borne from Louis’ troubled mind and was easy for Anderson to tackle.
“It was actually like a really nice sort of family reunion. It felt like slipping back into an old routine rather than jarring or anything. It’s pretty funny as well, to see the things that Sam did that didn’t make it into the episode, like where Lestat writes a piece of music that he starts playing on his neck wound. Watching that in real time is one of the most surreal things I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m very disturbed that I can still see it and hear it.”
Disturbed is a perfect way of describing the toxic relationship between the two. No matter how many times Lestat abuses Louis or the number of ways Louis tries to leave him, the two always find their way back to each other. While Lestat has not literally returned — at least not yet –, Louis’ state of mind represents this reality adequately. He and Claudia’s relationship has fractured because he decided to spare Lestat. And still, he can’t let go of the person who quite literally ruined his life. Even if it is just in his own mind.
‘Interview With the Vampire’ Can’t Let Go of Lestat
If Louis can’t let go of Lestat, the same can be said for the show itself. After Lestat’s failed demise, his influence fades heavily from the book. He returns intermittently, but is weakened and has no significant effect on the remaining characters. In light of casting Reid in the role, this simply will not do. If one actor was born to play a character, it is Reid in the role of Lestat. Sidelining the character would be a disservice to the performer.
The AMC series has found a way to still include Lestat in an engaging way that has emotional stakes. The question remains how the rest of the season will result. AMC’s Interview With the Vampire is a spiritual adaptation of Anne Rice’s source material but deviates in fascinating ways. How the series will proceed with the Lestat issue is sure to be surprising and intriguing. In preparation for Season 2, viewers can catch up on Interview With the Vampire by streaming on AMC+.
Interview with the Vampire
Based on Anne Rice’s iconic novel, follow Louis de Pointe’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy.
- Creator
- Rolin Jones
- Cast
- Sam Reid , Jacob Anderson , Eric Bogosian , Bailey Bass , Assad Zaman
WATCH ON AMC+
