Season 3 of AMC’s “Interview With the Vampire” will be based on “The Vampire Lestat,” the second book in Anne Rise’s “Vampire Chronicles” in which the title character, among other things, becomes a world-famous rock star.
But that novel was published in 1985, and suffice it to say, the musical landscape of the 2020s is very different from that of the ’80s. And one of the funniest conversations among fans of the show and the books is about how Lestat’s music will be updated for the present day.
During San Diego Comic-Con 2024, TheWrap spoke with the showrunner of “Interview With the Vampire” Rolin Jones and stars Sam Reid (who plays Lestat), Assad Zaman (Armand) and Delainey Hayles (Claudia) on the IMDBoat, and of course we had to ask.
“We’re going to be very, very reserved here. I would say imagine Lestat with an iPad or something, going through the last 80 years of music,” Jones said. “And ‘yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, yeah, yeah, this, this, this.’ He doesn’t have to be a man from 2026. He’s a man from the last 300 years, he’s got exquisite taste. And I think he knows how to convey that.”
“Look, he’s the vampire Lestat,” Reid added. “So, you know, he’s the thing to revere, he’s the thing to fear. He’s the thing to love, he’s the thing to hate. And, you know, in an age of extreme discourse, how do you stand out? I think Lestat is one of those figures who is very capable of making an impact without having to work very hard for it.”
“I think there’s a bit of a very grand and musical imagination that’s probably going to build over time,” Jones explained. We had to know if this means fans can expect a lot more music in Season 3. Without spoiling anything, Jones coyly suggested the answer is a big yes.
“I think there’s probably a secret, deep down, attempt to make an absolutely incredible double album that everyone will like.” Yeah, we can’t wait.
We also got to talk to Hayles about her portrayal of Claudia, a decades-old vampire who was turned into a vampire at 14 and struggles with being trapped in that form forever and with the idea that she has any control over her nature. She’s a tragic yet terrifying monster, one that Hayles plays with a powerful vulnerability.
“I just felt a lot of empathy for her. Because she doesn’t quite know who she is. She doesn’t know, this world that she is, is all she knows. She likes it. But it’s forced upon her,” Hayles explained when asked about it. “So I think yeah, I had a lot. Empathy was the thing that I wanted to explore. Because I just feel like her circumstances are so difficult. That way of just being. [She’s] angry all the time, but it’s like she’s fierce, she’s also extremely vulnerable. And I wanted to show that in a way.”
Zaman also had an interesting insight into his character, Armand, a 500-year-old vampire who in many ways still acts like an angry teenager. When asked if he saw his character as, essentially, a kid masquerading as an adult, Zaman told TheWrap, “I think that’s ultimately what we were going for. And what I didn’t realize is that I think that’s what it’s like to live my life as an actor for 10 years.”
“I think I often felt like the teenager or the kid who doesn’t really know but is pretending to put on the mask of someone who does know what they’re doing. And I think we all do that. I think we all kind of struggle through and pretend that the role is right for us until we find peace in it. So yeah, a lot of the process of filming season two was me trying to pretend that I knew what I was doing. And I think that’s kind of the harmony.”
Click here for all of TheWrap’s coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
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