Here's why 1994's Interview with the Vampire is dedicated to River Phoenix, despite the late actor being absent from the film. The star-studded gothic drama movie follows Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), a young man who died and was transformed into a vampire in the 1790s. He was a wealthy, grief-stricken plantation owner in Spanish Louisiana who was simply going through the daily motions because of the recent, potent losses of his wife and infant child.
A self-centered vampire named Lestat (Tom Cruise) offered him a different kind of existence, one where he would receive his "dark gift" and be free from normal human pains and trifles. In the present day, Louis recounts the seminal moments of his time as an immortal to journalist Daniel Molloy (Christian Slater) in a hotel room in San Francisco. Despite the tale of woe and additional loss that Louis chronicles for Molloy over the course of Interview with the Vampire, the writer doesn't seem to fully grasp the dismal reality of being a bloodsucking member of the undead. Toward the film's end, he's so fascinated that he even asks a then-enraged Louis to turn him into one, as well.
In addition to Slater, Pitt, and Cruise, the film also features the likes of a very young Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas. Considering he's not in it, however, it's a bit confusing that the project is dedicated to late actor River Phoenix at the end of the credits. After all, he wasn't a cast member. But the reason for the dedication is tragic: Phoenix had been set to play Molloy prior to his untimely, fatal drug overdose in 1993. He would have been a good fit, already having showcased his acting chops in high-profile films like Stand By Me, My Own Private Idaho, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But his death threw a wrench in those casting plans just before the film was set to start shooting. According to a 1993 article from Entertainment Weekly, "Within days of his Oct. 31 collapse outside Johnny Depp’s Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, agents were on the phone with the producers of Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, suggesting clients who could take Phoenix’s role as the interviewer in the Tom Cruise movie." Of course, Christian Slater ended up nabbing the role.
Slater does a solid job in the minor part. During his few scenes, he imbues what little viewers see of Molloy with his own personal touch. Especially in classic films of his, such as Heathers and Pump Up the Volume, he brings a signature voice, cadence, and mischievous demeanor to roles. And he brought that same vibe to Molloy in Interview with the Vampire. In addition, he was kind enough to donate his salary from the movie to Phoenix's favorite charities, saying in a 2018 Yahoo! interview that it helped him assuage his guilt about taking River's role:
"It was awkward. It was uncomfortable. It was hard. How to replace somebody that died in that way, and somebody that I admired greatly. I thought we’d be in this business forever and we’d be competing for the same roles and doing all these things and instead that tragedy happened. So it was very, very sad. I tried to deal with it in the best way that I could. It didn’t feel right taking money for it, so I ended up donating the money to charities and things that he was involved with. That took the difficulty out of doing it. It made it feel like it was more in honor of him. It made me feel better about it."
Even so, it's hard not to imagine what River Phoenix might have done in the role. At the time, River Phoenix was one of Hollywood's anointed young stars, promising to be an A-lister for decades and a lock for a future Oscar or several, bringing a vulnerability and a darker edge to this work. Certainly, after playing teenage hustler Mikey Waters in My Own Private Idaho, Phoenix might have brought some of that rawness to the gothic darkness of Interview with the Vampire.