Interview With the Vampire Showrunner Says AMC Series is More Gothic Romance than Horror

With a story centered around vampires, one would assume that AMC's Interview With the Vampire would be a series that veers towards horror given the deadly nature of its main characters, but according to series showrunner Rolin Jones, the upcoming adaptation of Anne Rice's iconic novel of the same name is less a horror show and more a gothic romance. Speaking to the press during AMC's Television Critics Association summer press tour presentation last week, Jones spoke about approaching things as a toxic, but beautiful, love story.

"I came back to them and said, 'I don't think it's a horror show, I think it's a gothic romance. I want to write a very excitable, aggressive, toxic, beautiful love story,'" Jones said of pitching the series to AMC. "And they were down for it."

Jones also explained that the first season of the series will cover about half of the story in the Interview With the Vampire novel with potential future seasons getting into the rest of the Vampire Chronicles books, the series has already used those additional books to help build out that toxic love story.

"Let's see them really go through all the little obstacles and challenges of a relationship," he said. "Like Bogey and Bacall, with some fangs."

Interview With the Vampire stars Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt, Jacob Anderson as Louis de Pointe du Lac, Bailey Bass as Claudia, and Eric Bogosian as Daniel Molloy. The series will also star Kalyne Coleman as Grace, Christian Robinson as Levi, Assad Zaman as Rashid, and Maura Grace Athari as Antoinette.

"Developing this series carries great pressure and responsibility," series executive producer Mark Johnson has previously said about the adaptation. "What Anne Rice created and what her fans have been transfixed by forces us to take this book-to-television show transition with a great deal of responsibility. It is imperative that we do not disappoint her fans and yet we need to make sure that this story, these characters sing for a modern audience."

He added, "We are hoping that this series compels the Anne Rice fan to rediscover her works. We are also hoping that those viewers who have never read an Anne Rice novel go running to the bookstore eager to understand what all the fuss is about."

Interview With the Vampire is set to debut on October 2nd on AMC and AMC+

Are you looking forward to Interview With the Vampire? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @lifeinpolaroid!