Every single time I see a trailer or a clip for AMC’s adaptations of Anne Rice’s novels, I think “That looks worth checking out!” and then I somehow manage to completely fail to get started. The reviews are excellent. Outposters who have seen it say it is well worth our time. I really, really must apply myself and maybe get all caught up on Interview With The Vampire, as The Vampire Lestat is imminent.
The two-season adaptation of Interview with the Vampire was highly acclaimed, and so Anne Rice’s second book gets adapted, which shifts the focus to Sam Reid’s Lestat as he becomes a rock star, and I am promised it is nowhere near as mental as that sounds.
There was an attempt to adapt the second novel some years ago, which got itself all messed up and turned around and eventually came out as Queen Of The Damned, the third title in the series. It sank largely without a trace.
For this continuation of the AMC series, Louis (Jacob Anderson), Armand (Assad Zaman), and Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) all return, alongside Delainey Hayles as Claudia for flashbacks. New joiners are Christopher Heyerdahl as Lestat’s mentor and Armand’s maker Marius de Romanus. Damien Atkins will play Lestat’s maker Magnus.
The novel follows Lestat’s rise to fame as a 1980s rockstar, his early experiences as a vampire, and his search for meaning and connection in his vampiric existence. It also offers some of Lestat’s perspective on the events of Interview with the Vampire, which has been published as an in-universe novel by the journalist, Daniel Molloy.
Ugandan-British actress and playwright Sheila Atim has been cast as Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, alongside Noah Reid (Schitt’s Creek) as Larry, Ryan Kattner (Destroy All Neighbors) as Salamander, Seamus Patterson (Cabinet of Curiosities) as Alex, and Sarah Swire (The Boys) as TC.
The Vampire Lestat premieres on June 7th.
