Sam Reid as The Vampire Lestat. Photo: AMC
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt, or in this case, bitten. As we wait for the June 7 premiere of The Vampire Lestat, fans have been pouring over every video and photograph for clues about what lies ahead. One thing I find particularly striking with the recently released extended look trailer is that Daniel (Eric Bogosian) seems to be antagonizing Lestat (Sam Reid), and Lestat doesn’t seem too thrilled about it.
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Mood is everything, and the extended look trailer has no fewer than a dozen moods and twice as many vibes. This thing has Rolin Jones’ fingerprints all over it – there’s so much to unpack and it’s impossible to really tell which way is up.
Watch The Vampire Lestat extended look trailer
As you can see, the trailer starts out with an interview. Daniel is calling the shots and he wants Lestat to introduce himself. We’ve seen variations of this in previous trailers and teasers, but if this bit seems familiar it’s also because Lestat is speaking the opening lines of Anne Rice’s 1985 novel. Of course, in this updated version Lestat adds “Jefferson Starship” and “garrote-wielding coven members” as possible means of killing him. Then again, they might not.
By the time Lestat says that these things may or may not kill him, we can hear Daniel laughing in the background. It’s an interesting point to laugh – after all, the Jefferson Starship joke has already passed. Daniel’s laughter keeps building, increasing in volume as Lestat talks.
At first, Lestat seems to laugh with him as if he’s in on the joke. However, it doesn’t take long for Lestat’s expression to shift slightly. His eyes darken and that stunning jaw of his sets as he realizes that Armand’s fledgling is laughing at him.
We see Daniel pressing Lestat throughout the trailer about why he’s playing music and whether or not he stuttered as a child. This is something we saw from Daniel in Dubai; as the weathered journalist, Daniel knows how to sink his teeth into a story, both literally and figuratively. But there’s a decidedly different tone in his voice this time around. He’s trying to evoke a response from Lestat, but why? What’s he after?
Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long for answers. The Vampire Lestat premieres Sunday, June 7, at 9pm ET/PT on AMC and streams on AMC+. Also be sure to tune into The Vampire Lestat: After Dark, the show’s companion series, which premieres June 24 on AMC+.
