You know how some shows are huge on social media but they don’t seem to have such a large footprint in the outside world? Well, AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is one such show. Based on Anne Rice’s famous book series and primarily set in the 1910s, the show follows the charismatic yet cunning vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), who seduces and eventually turns the affluent Black man Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson). As in the novel, the story is framed as an interview Louis gives to a journalist in 1973.
The show is the second major adaptation of Rice’s novel after the 1994 Neil Jordan version starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. However, it’s an infinitely superior adaptation, showcasing the complex and changing dynamic between the two tortured vampires. Interview with the Vampire doesn’t have the mass audience it deserves, but things will soon change, as the show is coming to Netflix this August, where it will hopefully find a larger audience. If you’re still on the fence about whether to watch it, here are four reasons why you shouldn’t miss this terrific Gothic romance.
The lead actors are amazing
Any great show relies entirely on the performances of its cast, and Interview with the Vampire is no exception. Luckily, the casting director scored an A+ with Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson. Reid, best known for roles in the film Belle and the show The Newsreader, is a brilliant Lestat, all arrogance, flair, and barely-concealed desperation. His Lestat is a scar that never quite healed, throbbing and occasionally bleeding, calling itself to attention to prove it’s still there. It’s a different take from Tom Cruise’s bratty 1994 version but no less flamboyant or entertaining.
Then there’s Jacob Anderson as Louis. If Reid’s Lestat is a scar, then Anderson’s Louis is a bruise, trapped blood unable to flow freely, forever confined and unable to just be. Anderson, best known for his role as the stoic Grey Worm in Game of Thrones, is a vast improvement over Brad Pitt’s embarrassingly boring iteration in the 1994 movie. He injects Louis with so much life and agency without betraying the character’s cautiousness. Together, they are a perfect duo for this tortured yet passionate story, successfully adapting it for a new audience.
It’s an inspired adaptation
The first two seasons of Interview with the Vampire are solid adaptations of Anne Rice’s first novel. They follow the main story quite closely, chronicling Louis and Lestat’s early relationship in New Orleans, their “adoption” of the chaotic child vampire Claudia (Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayles), their eventual separation, and Louis and Claudia’s journey to Europe, where they meet the Theatre des Vampires.
Where the series most experiments compared to its source material is with the character of Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), the journalist interviewing Louis, who was simply named “the boy” in the novel. Whereas his literary counterpart is content with just listening to Louis’ story, craving the idea of immortality, the show’s Daniel is a more complicated figure who is almost as alluring as the vampire protagonists. His rise in prominence gives the modern narrative as much thematic heft as the early story from the 1910s. A show like Interview with the Vampire can very easily succumb to excess, but this balance keeps it from tilting too much onto either side.
The show is seductively stylish and Gothic
A large reason for Anne Rice’s success is her unique ability to do the Gothic horror subgenre justice. More a literary aesthetic than a proper genre, Gothic fiction thrives on a distinctive and near-unbearable atmosphere of terror, dread, and impending doom. Tragedy is ever-present, often taking place in stately settings vast enough to hide countless secrets.
Interview with the Vampire nails this approach in pretty much every aspect. From the striking cinematography that frames the action in contrasting shadows to the set and costume design to the distinctively gaunt makeup on the main characters, the show is a Gothic nerd’s fantasy.
Arguably, however, the strongest Gothic aspect of Interview with the Vampire is its seamless ability to balance past and present, bridging them through text and subtext. More than any other literary subgenre, Gothic literature appreciates how inherently tied past and present are, often clashing and intruding in each other’s businesses. Interview with the Vampire not only understands this tenet but it openly embraces it.
LGBTQ+ romance done right
If Interview with the Vampire is famous for something, it’s how openly queer it is. Whereas the 1994 movie was too cowardly to overtly show Louis and Lestat’s carnal relationship, the show flaunts its queerness with pride and refreshing honesty. Make no mistake, Interview with the Vampire is hot, intense, and extremely gay. Like most real relationships, the show’s dynamic is very messy, confusing, at times exasperating, erotic, sexy, and outright enthralling.
Anderson and Reid share the kind of chemistry most major producers would kill for, but their impressive physicality is only part of the formula. By being so overt and unrestrained with its approach to sexuality, Interview with the Vampire speaks to larger issues — sex, identity, desire, fulfillment, purpose; these are issues that are not only vital to our everyday existence but also inescapable, confronting each other to create who we are and how we function within a given system.
Yes, Interview with the Vampire can be steamy, but its sexuality speaks to a higher theme, much like Anne Rice’s novels did. It will undoubtedly become one of the best LGBTQ+ options on Netflix, but fans should look beyond what’s depicted and into what’s conveyed.
Interview with the Vampire is now streaming on Netflix.
