Interview with the Vampire Star & Showrunner Dish About Finale’s Emotional Reunion, Tease Season 3

Summary

• Interview with the Vampire
  star Sam Reid confirms that Louis & Lestat are “not back together,” but the former lovers have finally reconciled.
• Showrunner Rolin Jones reflects on fans getting their first opportunity to SEE the “real Lestat” when Louis returns to New Orleans and makes amends with his former lover.
• Louis and Lestat learn when they reunite that both are deeply haunted by the tragic death of their daughter, Claudia.

Warning! The Following Contains Spoilers for Interview with the Vampire, Season 2, Episode 8, “And That’s the End of It. There’s Nothing Else.”

“They’re not back together.” Those are the words of Sam Reid, who portrays Lestat de Lioncourt, in the AMC series Interview with the Vampire. Lestat and Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) do have a heartfelt reunion in the Season 2 finale, in which they finally reconcile, but they aren’t together… not yet. Showrunner Rolin Jones concurs, but he does tease that the former couple could end up together in future seasons. Meanwhile, fans of Anne Rice’s novels already know the answer to this question, should the show follow suit. Reid spoke about Louis and Lestat finding each other again in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“He’s definitely not in a good place.
He’s in probably one of the worst places he’s ever been, but at least he’s got Louis back.
They’re not back together, but at least they’re on talking terms.
I know what he has been doing for that period of time.
You can’t always play it, so it’s complex, but it’s very well plotted out.”

Interview with the Vampire

3.5/5

Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis’ life during the interview, the series examines Louis’ relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.

Release Date October 2, 2022

Seasons 2

Story By Anne Rice

Writers Rolin Jones

Network AMC

Streaming Service(s) AMC Plus

Franchise(s) Immortal Universe

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Jones agrees that Louis and Lestat still have a ways to go after reuniting in New Orleans. As Lestat prepares to go on tour with his band, Louis is hearing the voices of many vampires who want to destroy him for doing the memoir with Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). And Louis is clearly alone in his Dubai stronghold, at the conclusion, when he proclaims to his enemies telepathically: “I own the night.” Jones said in the same sit-down:

“But we don’t end with them together as a couple.
They had a reconciliation and that, in the novel, is quite bleak, them parting. We went the other way with it, which is we begin to set the journey about how they ultimately,
maybe eight seasons down the road, end up together.
We just wanted some catharsis.
We wanted to earn that hug and earn those quiet words that none of us know. I don’t even know what they said to each other.”

Louis & Lestat’s Bittersweet Reunion: ‘Claudia Is Such a Huge Loss’

Sam Reid certainly teased a huge twist in Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, and there ended up being so many jaw-dropping moments which deviated in a wonderful way from Anne Rice’s source material. However, Claudia (Delainey Hayles) did not escape the heartbreaking fate she faced in the 1976 novel.

“Claudia is such a huge loss, and Louis and Lestat,
for the next century or so, will never be able to spend that much time together without bringing up Claudia. They can’t.
That reunion scene, they can really only chat for three minutes before they’re straight away talking about Claudia,
and there’s so much left to process there. And she’s haunting them both at different times.
I think perhaps Lestat would probably quite comfortably walk into the sun the same way Louis did, but this Lestat won’t die. He’ll just get a tan.”

One of the fun reveals in the television series, which coincides with what happens in The Vampire Chronicles, is the enormous power which Lestat possesses. And when Reid says, “He’ll just get a tan,” he’s saying the sunlight cannot destroy his character. Lestat has the blood of the Queen of the Damned, Akasha, flowing through his veins, and that makes him almost God-like. The real Lestat, which fans only heard talking to Armand (Assad Zaman) when Louis tries to commit suicide, is finally SEEN in the reunion with Louis during the Season 2 finale. Showrunner Rolin Jones also told EW:

“Sam [Reid] worked really hard for two years as a supporting actor,
and I think Jacob [Anderson] is very excited to do the same thing for him, and put Sam front and center.
We’ve just scratched the surface with Sam, who’s an incredible actor […]
We gave him one scene that is objective, the scene in New Orleans.
In that moment, that’s nobody’s point of view. The camera’s over there watching both of them, so there you go, fans.
One scene so far of the real Lestat.”

Related Interview with the Vampire Star Reveals ‘F—ing Cool Twist’ Will Happen in Season 2

Lestat de Lioncourt himself, Sam Reid, dishes on a “f—ing cool twist” for Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire that does not happen in the books.

Louis and Lestat exchange words in a very Lost in Translation sort of way, as Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson did at the end of their 2003 movie. The actor portraying the show’s lead vampires exchange words which can’t be heard by the audience as they smile and embrace. Rolin continued:

“It was such a fantastic way to wrap up the season.
There’s a lot of loose ends, there’s a few things you really want to find out about, but there’s also a very, very satisfying conclusion.
It’s this beautiful journey of Louis accepting himself and finding his feet and accepting the dark gift.
And also Lestat now sort of accesses his humanity a little bit as well.”

Season 3 of Interview with the Vampire has been officially announced and should begin filming this fall. And the late Anne Rice and AMC’s Immortal Universe will also add the Talamasca series, which will join Louis and Lestat’s ongoing story, along with the Mayfair Witches in the near future.

Seasons 1 and 2 of
Interview of the Vampire
is available to stream or binge-watch on
AMC+.

You can view the original article HERE.