Interview With the Vampire Showrunner Explains Why One Key Book Character Was Absent from Episode 3

This week’s episode of Interview With the Vampire, “No Pain”, gave fans of the AMC series something they’d been hoping for almost since meeting Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) in Season 1 — a look at his own origin story. For fans of author Anne Rice’s larger Vampire Chronicles novels, the episode offered the first taste of what an adaptation of The Vampire Lestat might look like, revealing Lestat’s early time as a vampire and his time in Paris and how it connects to the Theatre des Vampires. But while the episode did give fans an appearance by one beloved novel character, Nicholas de Lenfent (played by Joseph Potter), there was one fan favorite and important character missing: Gabrielle de Lioncourt, Lestat’s mother. But while fans may have been disappointed not to see Gabrielle, showrunner Rolin Jones says hasn’t been forgotten — and fans will get to see her if the series gets a third season.

Speaking with TV Insider, Jones explained that while we get a piece of The Vampire Lestat in “No Pain”, the story is being told not by Lestat the way it is in Rice’s book, but through Armand’s point of view, which is why certain characters didn’t appear — including Gabrielle.

“Gabrielle — not particularly somebody I think Armand wants [mentioned],” Jones said. “But don’t worry, it’s coming. If there’s a Season 3, Lestat will get to tell his version of the story that will be wildly different about what happened here.”

He continued, “In my head, other than Lestat, [Gabrielle is] the central character of Season 3. The important character.”

Who is Gabrielle de Lioncourt?

As fans of the book know, Gabrielle is a significant character not only to Lestat as a character, but in The Vampire Lestat. Lestat’s mother, Gabrielle was turned into a vampire by her son (in the late 1700s in the novel). After founding the Theatre, Gabrielle and Lestat leave Paris to travel around the world, where their relationship eventually fractures and they part ways with Gabrielle eventually going into the African jungles and exploring the world alone for two centuries.

And fans aren’t the only people eager to see Gabrielle come to life in the series. Back in 2022, Jacob Anderson, who plays Louis,

told ComicBook that Gabrielle is one of the characters he’s eager to interact with.

“I’ve already text Rolin on numerous occasions and been like, ‘I just want to be in a room with Gabrielle and Marius,’” Anderson said.

What Is Interview with the Vampire Season 2 About?

You can read AMC’s official description of the second season of Interview With the Vampire here: “The interview continues in season two. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.”

Interview With the Vampire airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.