Interview With the Vampire: Sam Reid Says He Wishes He Could have Asked Anne Rice About Lestat

Reid says he thinks Rice would have had "notes" for him.

By Nicole Drum

Interview With the Vampire star Sam Reid is now two seasons deep into playing Lestat de Lioncourt, the iconic "Brat Prince" vampire that is central to Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. He's also poised to take the character to the next level in the AMC series' third season, which will see Reid take on a version of Lestat that is very different than what audiences have seen thus far: rock star Lestat as Season 3 of the series adapts the second novel in Rice's book series, The Vampire Lestat. But while Reid has been asked plenty of questions about playing the beloved vampire thus far, there is one person's questions and feedback he wishes he had: Rice's herself. Speaking with Fault magazine, Reid said that he wishes he would have had the opportunity to speak with Rice —and that he feels she would have a long list of "confronting notes".

"I feel like I've been fortunate enough to have had some pretty extensive questioning in regard to Lestat," Reid said when asked about the one thing he always wanted to say or discuss about the character. "I would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk with Anne Rice about him though — I'm sure she'd have had a long list of confronting notes for me."

Rice passed away in December 2021 due to complications from a stroke at the age of 80. Her passing came just a few months after Reid's casting as Lestat was announced that August. While Reid didn't get the opportunity to discuss Lestat with Rice, in 2022 the actor spoke with ComicBook about being a "huge fan" of her books and the privilege of getting to bring them to life.

"Super familiar. Huge fan of the books, huge fan," Reid said. "When I read that it was going to be made into a TV show I was just really hopeful that I had the opportunity to audition for it. So yeah, huge amounts of pressure because you feel that pressure to make sure that you live up to the character in the world that you love so much. I mean, there's a huge amount of pressure because they're so loved these books and this world that she created but also the pressure that you put on yourself to live up to them as well is full on. But what an extraordinary opportunity and gift and privilege to be able to be a part of it."

What Can Fans Expect in Season 3 of Interview With the Vampire?

Here's how AMC describes Season 3 of Interview With the Vampire: In season three, resentful of the perfunctory portrayal in the trashy bestseller 'Interview With The Vampire,' the Vampire Lestat sets his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can—by starting a band and going on tour.  Gabrielle. Nicholas. Magnus. Marius. Those Who Must Be Kept. They join Louis, Armand, Molloy, Sam, Raglan, Fareed and others we can't tell you about yet on a sexy pilgrimage across space, time and trauma. No Auto-Tuning. No Trigger Warnings. All Feels Amplified."

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"Lestat [will be] front and center, which means the show should feel like it was hijacked by Lestat," showrunner Rollin Jones said previously. "Aesthetically, you should be ready for what a Lestat version of the show feels like and looks like."

Interview With the Vampire is now streaming on Netflix.

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