Review
Interview with the Vampire is an American gothic horror television series created by Rolin Jones for AMC which is based on the first book in The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, starring Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac and Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt. The first season concentrates on the first half of the book but there is a twist in that we are beginning more than forty years after that first interview in San Francisco and a much older Daniel Molloy is invited to Dubai by Louis to have another crack at it.
I have to admit to being late to the party with this series because I deliberately avoided it for two seasons until I started seeing clips for the third season which focuses on Lestat’s journey as a rock star. I didn’t think anyone could live up to the image of Lestat in my head but I have been blown away by Sam Reid’s performance.
So why did I avoid it? Interview With The Vampire is not my favourite book from the chronicles and I actually read it after The Vampire Lestat because I had no idea it was part of a series when I borrowed it from the library. Louis does not feature heavily in the later books so it seemed weird to me to build a TV show around their undying love. Then there were all the changes which sees the storyline moved out of the eighteenth century and into the early twentieth century. In the opening episode, we are introduced to Louis who is now a Creole brothel owner in New Orleans in 1910. This is quite a significant change since Book Louis is a white plantation owner but this new version works beautifully and we get to see the human version of his character grapple with racism as well as his closeted sexuality.
The two actors who portray Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid) have such great chemistry which is supported by the friendship they have developed over the filming of the series. I have been watching loads of interviews on You Tube and these guys are so adorable together. The onscreen relationship is more mercurial as Louis struggles to adapt to his new reality as a vampire but there are also plenty of playful scenes to enjoy before it becomes increasingly toxic with the arrival of Claudia. As we know, Book Claudia was five years old when she was turned but we are never going to see her at the age on screen so the show producers opted to make her fourteen which means this Claudia is stuck in puberty for eternity. Bailey Bass is excellent at portraying Claudia through different parts of her time as a vampire and I loved the scenes where she is goading Lestat.
The scenes flow between Dubai where Louis is telling his story to Malloy in a gorgeous penthouse that has special shielding on the windows to protect those who are a little more sensitive to sunlight, and those in New Orleans at various different times. Some of the sets in New Orleans had to be built on a backlot, but a lot of Louis and Lestat’s scenes are shot in the historic Gallier House which Anne Rice used to describe Lestat’s townhouse in the novel. It is deeply satisfying to see the producers doing their best to be faithful to Anne Rice’s creations while adapting things for a more modern audience and I think they have done it very well. Let’s face it, you are never going to please everyone but adapting these books was always going to be an enormous task since they come with in a long established fanbase who are protective about these characters.
Another big change is having the character of Daniel Molloy forty years older than his book counterpart and he is portrayed by Eric Bogosian who seems to have made a career out of playing angry characters. While I never liked the character of Molloy, I can see why the producers wanted a more accomplished version as he is a much better journalist than he was in his younger drug-addled days which means he is far more cynical about the story Louis is recounting and is instrumental in blowing more than one untruth wide open. However, time is running out for Molloy as he is suffering from Parkinson’s which makes his desire to become a vampire all the more relevant. It’s no secret Molloy eventually gets his wish but at a far more advanced age than in the book. I’m reserving judgement until we see him in his vampiric state but it seems a little incongruous to me.
And what of the brat prince himself? Obviously we are seeing him through the lens of Louis but he is pretty damned delicious regardless. I’m completely in awe of how Sam Reid just disappears into the role and it is obvious he understands this character inside out. I can’t wait for Rockstar Lestat but I’m getting ahead of myself.
