By Flynn Demapendan-Espana
Annie Rice’s Interview with the Vampire was first published in 1976 as a gothic horror and vampiric novel, and went on to be written as a book series. The book has since gone on to become one of the best-selling novels of all time, which led to it having multiple movie adaptations: Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, and Queen of the Damned with Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend.
But, the newest adaptation of the series is the most influential and impactful compared to the other ones. AMC’s Interview with the Vampire TV show is currently the best adaptation of the book series and one of the best shows ever made.
Now, this article’s purpose is to try and convince you to watch the show. I know what you’re thinking: why should I watch a show based on an interview with a vampire, specifically a gay one? Well, this interview is actually really interesting, heartbreaking, and investing. I’ll convince you to watch at least the first season.
First of all, Interview with the Vampire’s first season follows Daniel Molloy, who is played by Eric Bogosian, interviewing the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, who is played by Jacob Anderson. In this interview, Louis tells the story of his life before he turns into a vampire, when and how he turns, and his life after as a new, profound vampire.
Throughout the interview, Louis talks about his maker, the person who turned him into a vampire: Lestat de Lioncourt, who is played by Sam Reid. Lestat is an important figure and character in the story, as he and Louis eventually form a romantic yet very toxic relationship.
With this developed relationship between the two vampires, they eventually find some sort of a daughter figure, Claudia, who is played by Bailey Bass in Season 1 and Delainey Hayles in Season 2. She was found in a burning house, and in order to save her, Louis had to turn and beg Lestat to turn her into a vampire.
Alright, after giving a brief synopsis about the first season, it’s time to get to the reasons why this show is truly amazing.
To get the obvious out of the way, this adaptation is in the form of a TV show. The reason why this adaptation was more memorable and impactful than the other movie adaptations is because it was given enough time to develop. With movies, writers and directors are only given a certain amount of time to develop the story, and with a short time frame, not much development would happen, and some features would get cut. With a TV show, it is given enough time to show full, well-developed characters, storylines, relationships, and well…EVERYTHING. Writers and directors are given a handful of episodes and enough time to give the watcher a proper story with no plot holes.
Another reason: THE CAST IS STACKED. There is so much talent in this show: Jacob Anderson was on Game of Thrones, Bailey Bass is in Avatar, Sam Reid is in Lambs of God, and Eric Bogosian was in Uncut Gems. The resumes, the talent, is radiating off of the screen when you watch this show; everything is well-composed, everything is professional, I could not point out a single bad thing about this cast’s acting.
One other important reason is the characters and their complexes. In the book, Louis was depicted as a white man, owning a slave plantation in Louisiana. Now, of course, with the now-given circumstances and new views of today’s society, the writers decided to change it. In the show, Louis is a Black Creole man, who is a brothel owner in New Orleans’ red-light district. His character in the show gets haunted and thrown into a society of racism as the beginning of the interview’s story starts in 1910.
Now, with Lestat’s complexes…he is by far the most morally complex character ever. This narcissistic vampire has his own self-obsession with every aspect of his own existence and being. Yet, when it comes to Louis, his narcissism lowers…But it’s not completely gone. To give an example of his complexity, he tells Louis that their relationship is open, prompting Louis that it’s okay to sleep with anyone, as long as they come back to each other in bed.
With this statement, Lestat goes to sleep with someone else, but as soon as Louis sleeps with someone else, Lestat has a huge crashout. Not only is he a narcissist, he is a RAGING hypocrite. Although, he truly does love Louis and sees him as his soulmate, saying that after all the years Lestat has been a vampire, there is no one else like Louis.
A big reason for you romantics out there: this show does not shy away from an expressive romantic nature between Louis and Lestat. The TV show shows the complexities of Louis and Lestat’s relationship, showing the emotional abuse and manipulation which is tugged between a feeling of comfort vs. unhealthy possessiveness. Anderson and Reid, as actors, are able to portray the vampires’ complex relationship. Showing genuine love, yet toxicity underneath it all.
The vampires’ love is shown in a variety of ways, but I don’t want to spoil too much…
Hopefully with my reasonings, it gives you an understanding of why AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is worth watching. This show is literally my Roman Empire, my will to live, and the reason why I’m still in my vampire phase. This show is worth watching, and if you do get hooked on it, there is a second season waiting to be watched, with the third season currently being filmed.
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