The Iconic Ladies Behind Lestat: Jennifer Ehle and Sheila Atim Tease Gabriella & Akasha’s Powerful Roles in The Vampire Lestat

Understanding Lestat means confronting his past.

The Vampire Lestat takes great pains to tell the full, unabashed, and intricate story of the infamous Lestat de Lioncourt, as the vampire finally gets his turn to speak his version of the truth.

Central to that story are two women: his mother, Gabriella, and the mother of all vampires, Akasha.

(TVF Screenshot)

Both Gabriella and Akasha are central figures in Anne Rice’s novel series; their introductions in The Vampire Lestat are as much about detailing their relationships with Lestat as they are about offering a broader look at the vampire world.

Jennifer Ehle and Sheila Atim, our on-screen Gabriella and Akasha, both entered into AMC’s Immortal Universe this season with fresh perspectives on the iconic characters they were set to play.

With plenty of source material to sink her teeth into, what struck Atim most was the richness of the text.

Though she’d seen Interview with the Vampire Season 1, Atim found herself most immersed in the scripts.

“I just trusted the text. It’s so rich, and there’s so much in it. I didn’t really have to do much, other than learn it, turn up, and be very angry,” she tells us.

(Courtesy of AMC)

Ehle also watched Interview with the Vampire, proclaiming that she became “obsessed” with the series, but reading the scripts and keeping up with the books began to pose a challenge.

As Ehle explained, “Because it’s such an interpretation of the books, the show, I think this season especially, I had to sort of just embrace the scripts as they came out.”

The character of Gabriella appears at the end of The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 1, appearing after Lestat spends much of the episode willing her return while his band tours North America.

But during The Vampire Lestat Season 1 Episode 2, you get both a look into Gabriella and Lestat’s relationship in the past and what it’s become in the present day, which is, unsurprisingly, complicated.

(Courtesy of AMC)

Discussing the relationship, Ehle said, “Once he creates her as a monster and, in a way, releases her into being able to actually, I think, enjoy her life, having her life as a vampire for the first time, but still, he is such an instrument for her.

“I mean, the ambition that she has, the amount of power that she craves, and the existence that she wishes for and wants to make a reality, because of you, really, he is the perfect instrument, but she also loves him so deeply.

“Clearly, she’s so drawn to him, but she does need him as an instrument to realize her ambition.”

Gabriella may be drawn to Lestat and what he can do for her, but there’s someone else in his life who will always have a hold on him: Louis de Pointe du Lac.

Lestat and Louis’s relationship remains significant, and for Gabriella, the power he holds over Lestat will always be a threat.

(Sophie Giraud/AMC)

“I think she sees him as somebody that has hurt and could hurt Lestat, but she also sees him as a threat because he takes power,” Ehle said.

“Her power over Lestat…he definitely weakens her power and her grip on Lestat, and he’s somebody else. I mean, he’s the only other. He’s the loudest voice besides her, in Lestat’s ear, and that’s a threat.”

The mother-son, maker-fledgling dynamic will carry throughout the season, and while Gabriella’s presence looms large, Akasha’s arrival later in the season promises to reshape Lestat’s world in even more dramatic ways.

While Atim remained careful about revealing what’s ahead for Akasha, her arrival marks one of the most anticipated developments of the season.

In terms of the season as a whole, The Vampire Lestat is tonally different from what’s come before, and that’s by design.

(Sophie Giraud/AMC)

This is Lestat’s story, and thus the scope and framing of it were always going to be a different animal from what’s come before.

When asked what piece of advice they’d give to the audience as they wade in the murky waters of Lestat’s psyche, Atim was quick to tell us, “Roll with it, because it, stylistically, is a departure from the past two seasons, but I think it’s the right one.

“I mean, I’m biased, but I think it’s the right one, and I think the more you just lean into the kind of tidal wave of what’s coming your way, the much better time you’ll have.”

To hear more from Ehle and Atim about this season of The Vampire Lestat, check out our exclusive interview with the pair below.

You can watch The Vampire Lestat on Sundays at 9/8c on AMC and AMC+.

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