So much of what makes the AMC take on Anne Rice’s vampire love story work is rooted in the performances by its lead actors. The Vampire Lestat proves that.
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Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) has only really been given to fans through the eyes of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson). The first two seasons of Interview With the Vampire had Louis telling Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) about his life with Lestat from New Orleans to Paris. Only when Louis goes to Lestat at the end of season 2 do we see Lestat as a real person and not a memory. But now with The Vampire Lestat, it is his time to shine.
Filmed as a documentary with Daniel serving as his interviewer, Lestat is welcoming us into his life on tour that shows what is truth is. As he says aggressively scribbling on a copy of Daniel’s novel, Interview With the Vampire, some of what Louis said “never f****** happened.”
Lestat’s rockstar era feels, upon first watch, a little disjointed. This is by design. Showrunner Rolin Jones said as much in the after show special for the series. The writers room wanted this to feel like tracks on an album, all making season 3 the album of Lestat. And watching the show through that lens really does make everything click in the most delicious way.
But even in Lestat’s darker moments, many of which center around Gabrielle (Jennifer Ehle), the show allows Lestat to have a lot of fun with his story in a way that Louis’ version of Lestat pales to in comparison. Lestat is very funny in a way that makes Louis’ version of him way too disingenuous. Which is the genius of this show.
He said, he said, and the vampire truth somewhere else
A lot of Lestat’s motivations throughout this season are tied to two things: Music and telling his side of things. That doesn’t mean a re-telling of what Louis has said though. Rather, we get to see the world through Lestat’s point of view, including his own tortured past. The boy who fought off wolves and won gets to have his tortured past on display this time around.
Louis’ side of things paints their love as this tortured act but Lestat’s is a bit more realistic. When he and Louis are “good,” it feels almost like a domestic dream. He’s still his dramatic self though. “I bet, I BET” being yelled at a divorce court-esque meeting doesn’t exactly paint the picture of a completely well-adjusted vampire.
But even in his more dramatic moments, it is clear that Lestat loves Louis and always will. But unlike Louis’ way with words in the first two seasons, The Vampire Lestat focuses Lestat’s story through his songs. You won’t hear him (for the most part) negate what Louis said outright but you can infer his side of the story through his music.
Sam Reid is electric
As captivating as Tom Cruise’s Lestat was in the 1994 film, there is something about Reid’s performance as Lestat that takes the character to an entirely new level. From Reid’s ability to command a stage to the quieter moments where fans get to finally see the trauma he’s been through. We’ve heard whispers of his past loves, his maker, and more who have hurt him throughout the run of the show but hearing those moments from Lestat’s point of view does change things.
It isn’t some passing idea of Magnus that Louis heard or that Armand (Assad Zaman) threw in to Daniel. Now, you’re seeing how it all affected Lestat and Reid dives into those aspects of the character with such a beautiful sense of care that it makes it that much more devastating to watch. Lestat is not just the kind of character who lashes out and takes things too far (as he may have been depicted as). Instead, Reid’s take on Lestat this season is a more complicated look at the character.
And with the added bonus of having to have “stage presence,” Reid really takes Lestat to new levels this season and is more on an even playing field with Anderson’s Louis.
An album worthy of Lestat
Part of Lestat’s character has always been his ear for music. In season 1, there are scenes where he has caused fights because someone is flat or he doesn’t appreciate what they’re doing to a song. That’s just the way Lestat is and The Vampire Lestat allows him to let his inner music snob out. Albeit hilariously through rock music but alas, it works.
Songs like “Long Face” are played as a jokey pop hit (at one point, Lestat goes on a rant about the “fun” of his song “Long Face” only to realize that it isn’t a great song himself). But then songs like “Your Biggest Fan” stick with you despite the almost Taylor Swift-esque delivery of it. “The Loneliness” is by far the most heartbreaking of them and the one that feels like the gut punch truth of how Lestat feels. But even if you’re a fan of the more upbeat songs of the season, they all help to paint the mindset of Lestat in such a fun and inventive way.
The stormy romance of Louis and Lestat
Even through Lestat’s POV, it is still all about his love. Part of what makes Anne Rice’s novels so thrilling comes from the “endgame” feel of Louis and Lestat, even when the two are dating other people. And for the most part, Louis and Lestat have a lot to work through this season. But when we do get to see them interacting as people and not “ideas” or memories, it is beautiful to see.
As Claudia (Delainey Hayles) said in her final moments in season 2, this is “one more round in the stormy romance of you two.” But it isn’t necessarily in the negative. It is a beautiful chapter in the story of Lestat and Louis and having seen six of the seven episodes of this season, I can safely say that this is why Interview With the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat is the best show on television.
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The Vampire Lestat premieres Sundays on AMC.
(featured image: Sophie Giraud/AMC)
