Interview With the Vampire, literally: Meet the stars of the BBC’s most homoerotic show ever

Nearly 30 years after the iconic Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise-starring film, Interview With The Vampire returns to the screen in a fresh retelling, and bringing with it new blood to the lead roles.

Sam Reid (The Newsreader, Lambs of God) takes on the part of Lestat de Lioncourt, an antiheroic and hedonistic vampire who has embraced his inner monster. Meanwhile Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones, Broadchurch) plays Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat’s latest victim-turned-lover. The show also features Bailey Bass as the character of Claudia.

Essentially a reboot, Rolin Jones’ latest retelling imagines a later interview with the vampire post-that of the film, revealing many a twist on the original tale and revitalising the cult classic for modern audiences.

Here, Reid and Anderson speak to Attitude about the challenges of making monsters human, and embracing the queerness of these creatures of the night.

What was your first encounter with the story of Interview with the Vampire?

Sam: There were two things I wanted to be as a child: an actor and a vampire. These interests culminated in my excitement to discover that they were shooting Queen of the Damned in Australia. That began my voyage through the works of Anne Rice: the novels, the movie…

Jacob: I remember seeing that film when I was a teenager and I thought it was fun. It wasn’t until I read the script that I got that excited, nervous feeling in my stomach that you get when you fall in love. I felt an immediate connection with Louis and now I’m as submerged in the world of Rice as Sam.

How does it feel taking on that mantle of such an iconic franchise?

Jacob: It’s a huge responsibility. You want to be respectful to the source material, but not so beholden to it that you’re not able to bring anything new to it. I felt responsible to both the fans and to Louis as a character. I wanted him to be loved by long-term fans despite being a different interpretation; I wanted him to be understood and relatable to newcomers.

Of course. There are some twists in this retelling. Louis is reimagined as Black, and there’s a definitive queerness introduced…

Jacob: I think that the books were always very queer, but that was lost in the movie. It was a film of the 90s – it featured two movie stars (Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise) who were known for reflecting very heteronormative hypermasculine standards and reaching a mainstream audience required interrupting the queerness of the novels. But when you revisit the original story, it’s clear that Louis is somebody hugely angry with a man he loved deeply and now presents them as a monster…

Why do you think vampires have this fan appeal specific to LGBT people?

Sam: It’s sexy otherness, isn’t it? Vampires are creatures of the night, but they’re also terribly misunderstood. Anne Rice is really responsible for our perception of the modern vampire. Before, it was Nosferatu, Dracula: mythic, horrific and predatory figures. Rice used psychology to give us insight into the mind of the monster. She makes you relate to them. Besides the point that vampires are just pretty cool, right?

What is the joy of playing a vampire?

In terms of being an actor and having the opportunity to dramatize a vampire, it’s incredibly fun because you get to be playful. You’re operating on a supernatural level, playing these crazy, wild characters. And then they are constantly reinvented, over and over again, becoming metaphors for different things at different times. It’s exciting.

And what’s the biggest challenge of taking on the vampire role?

Jacob: My biggest challenge is quite specific to Louis. He is human to a fault and his humanity constantly rubs up against his vampiric nature. He’s so connected to his past where the vampire is a character of the present, of the moment, always on the hunt. Louis is incapable of ever being in the present moment. He’s a monster trapped in his humanity.

And Lestat is a very different beast…

Sam: I love Lestat. He’s the biggest hot mess in the world, but equally, he’s embraced his intense power. He never wanted to be a vampire. But in the face of adversity, he’ll be damned if he’s going to wallow about it. He embraces it instead and makes the most of the situation. He’s very admirable in that rather than suffering through life, he’s going to laugh through it, even though he might be laughing maniacally and with a sense of sadism.

Who are your favourite pop culture vampires outside of the world of Anne Rice

Jacob: Mine’s The Count from Sesame Street. A fundamental part of everybody’s childhood!

Sam: I love Gary Alvin’s interpretation of Dracula, and that movie especially. I love the way they made that film because it’s so practically made and yet creates such an extraordinary world. Alvin himself, he’s like a warrior, wearing an insane meat suit and covered in prosthetics, with his long nails and his moving shadow. It’s joyful filmmaking.

Interview with the Vampire starts on BBC Two on October 12th at 9pm and the full series is now available on BBC iPlayer.

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