A New Take on Interview With the Vampire 

Anne Rice’s epic vampire saga unfolds in sensuous new series

The tale of vampires Lestat and Louis has been told a number of times over the years. But a revival of author Anne Rice’s gothic classic, already brought to the screen in a hit 1994 Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film, gives the era-spanning horror a new twist.  

In Interview With the Vampire, a highly anticipated seven-episode adaptation, the lush, bloody saga is introduced through the perspective of Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), a modern-day journalist who comes to the Dubai penthouse of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson, Game of Thrones) to interview him nearly 50 years after their paths first crossed. 

While human Daniel has aged into a near-retiree, the vampire Louis hasn’t changed a bit and he proceeds to tell his interviewer about his life. Specifically? How he became a vampire at the hands of his lover, Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid, The Astronaut Wives Club), and how they brought young Claudia (Bailey Bass, Psycho Sweet 16) into their realm in 1910 New Orleans. 

AMCThe series, which comes from creator and showrunner Rolin Jones (a writer on Friday Night Lights) and executive producer Mark Johnson (producer on Breaking Bad), was filmed in New Orleans and features elaborate sets and lush photography. 

It also boasts solid performances all around, especially from Anderson, who embraced the chance to imagine how Louis would mature and change over the hundred-plus years that the story spans. 

AMC“Something that was really fun for me to think about,” the actor explains, “was what books has Louis read? Like, what is he seeing? Who has he met? Who does he kind of model himself on? And just building all that stuff in. 

“And also finding where those moments where like a person doesn’t really change over a century. There’s little moments that I really enjoyed kind of bringing the old Louis back in. Yeah, it’s a dream… Everything that [author Anne Rice] gave Louis in that first book—what else can I say? It’s the ultimate acting challenge.” 

As the interviewer Daniel, Bogosian plays it gruff and world-weary, a character he says isn’t a far cry from himself. 

AMC“I’m a veteran of my life and so is Daniel,” he says. “What does that mean? It means that when Daniel/me goes after the story, it’s with a lot more experience, savviness and, I think… just knowing how to get the story, how to cut through any kind of duplicity that Louis may be throwing my way. It evolves into a struggle between the two of us, of me trying to find the truth and him—well, he’s telling his story.”  

Interview with the Vampire premieres Sunday, October 2 on AMC