The AMC network has cast Sam Reid (Lambs of God, The Railway Man) in the lead role of Lestat in its upcoming series, Interview with the Vampire. The show is based on Anne Rice's 1976 novel of the same name. It's the first in the author's popular The Vampire Chronicles series.
The story of Interview with the Vampire centers around a mysterious figure named Louis de Pointe du Lac as he dictates the events of his life to a young reporter, particularly his transformation into a vampire by another ancient bloodsucker, Lestat de Lioncourt. In June, it was announced that AMC would launch the Interview with the Vampire series as part of a planned franchise based on all 21 of Rice's vampire novels, acquiring the rights to both The Vampire Chronicles and the related Lives of the Mayfair Witches book series. The network has so far ordered eight episodes for the Interview With the Vampire, with a planned air date on both AMC and AMC Plus bookmarked for sometime in 2022. Anne Rice and her son, author Christopher Rice, will serve as executive producers on the upcoming AMC show, along with others.
According to Variety, AMC has now announced that Sam Reid will be taking on the role of the vampire Lestat. While only Interview with the Vampire has been greenlit for production at this stage in the franchise's development, if AMC moves forward with adapting Rice's other works, it may mean a long-term role for the Australian actor. Lestat's character also features across other novels in the series, so there would be plenty of opportunity for Reid to return.
Reid's version of Interview With the Vampire will be the third major screen portrayal of Rice's iconic villain. In 1994, the novel was made into a feature film starring Tom Cruise as Lestat, Brad Pitt as Louis, and a young Kirsten Dunst as the child vampire, Claudia. In 2002, Stuart Townsend played Lestat in an adaptation of the Interview with the Vampire sequel, Queen of the Damned.
Though it's been a long time since the undead Lestat was brought back to life on screen, the vampire figure looms large in pop culture. Many viewers coming to the new AMC series will have Cruise's portrayal from the 1994 box office hit in their minds. It will be interesting to see how Reid's version stands up to such an iconic character, though he's certainly proven his acting skills in the past.
Source: Variety