Interview with the Vampire: Sam Reid on vampires’ “loneliness”

In another moment from the Interview with the Vampire press conference at San Diego Comic-Con, showrunner and writer Rolin Jones was talking about the intensity of the emotions that the show’s vampires experience. Sam Reid, who plays the vampire Lestat, noted that there was one emotion above all that seemed to resonate with Lestat, Louis and Claudia. 

Jones said that there is an intense “depth of feeling” that they explore in the series. Reid agreed. 

“It’s this sense of loneliness. To live forever is a very lonely situation. You know, given that choice, I don’t know how many people would actually choose it when you think about it. You’d lose everybody who’s important to you if you turn into a vampire. So this sense of loneliness and looking for somebody to spend eternity with, and those sort of challenges, is really brought out in this show. We have all of the sexy, seductive elements, but we also have looking for companionship and filling that hole. 

“And I also think that with the loneliness, this is also a show not just about a coven, specifically, it’s about a family. Louis in particular is trying to simulate a family. And to what Rolin was saying, we really see what [Louisis ] losing, what’s moving further and further away from him and why this dynamic happens. I think it’s quite rare that you see a vampire family who are also deeply lonely individually.”

In the trailer, Lestat tells Louis that he’s been watching him for some time. Fans familiar with Anne Rice’s characters know that Lestat had been searching for a companion and he saw the perfect candidate in Louis. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P0loX83H6A

We also see a still-mortal Louis taking photos with his family, and a vampire Louis holding a baby. As he regards the baby, his teeth sharpen. That’s exactly the point that Reid makes, that as Louis’ life continues indefinitely he will be pushed away from everyone he loves and it’s a cross that can be too difficult for some vampires to bear. 

Lestat and Louis’ quest to build their own vampire family spins out of their need to create something that will last; Lestat hopes it will bind Louis to him while Louis hopes that it will keep him connected to his mortal life. 

In the end, though, vampire families are almost harder to keep together than human families. This is something that will no doubt be explored in the new series. 

You can see what Eric Bogosian had to say about Daniel Molloy’s “white whale” here.

Interview with the Vampire premieres Sunday, October 2 at 10pm ET/PT on AMC.