The wait is almost over, Anne Rice fans, because AMC’s Interview with the Vampire is finally due to drop soon and, from what we know, has high potential to satisfy our long thirst. For the past couple of years, fans have been teased with the many failed attempts to adapt Rice’s popular vampire series, The Vampire Chronicles. At one point, Hulu was going to develop the series but quietly dropped the rights after potential showrunners exited the show. As projects fell through, Rice was able to gain back the rights to her novels. All was lost until AMC acquired the rights to a couple of Rice’s famous works two years ago. After a long dry spell of vampires on screen, the vampire hype was finally reignited again.

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As mentioned, this is not the first time Rice’s famous novels have been adapted to the screen. The first adaptation of Rice’s novel was released in 1994 and starred Brad Pitt as Louis and Tom Cruise as Lestat, the two vampire leads. It was followed up with a loose sequel in 2002 with Queen of the Damned that starred Stuart Townsend as Lestat and the late princess of R&B, Aaliyah as Akasha. Now that AMC has the rights, this will be the third adaptation of the source material.

The new series is expected to divert itself from the previous films and explore these vampires’ enticing yet lonely lives. Stoking fan anticipation, AMC has released stills and a teaser trailer, giving fans a slight taste of what’s to come. With the show’s release not being too far off, here’s all we know about AMC’s latest gothic series, Interview with the Vampire.

Updated September 2022 by Jessica Peerez: If you’re excited about Interview with the Vampire, you’ll be happy to know we’ve updated this article with additional info about the series.

Interview with the Vampire: The Plot

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The first season will closely follow the first novel, Interview with the Vampire. It will focus on Louis de Pointe du Lac, a vampire who tells the story of his 200-year-old life to an eager journalist named Daniel Malloy, who is looking for a second chance to turn his life around. In the show, Daniel is placed in the modern-day as a college professor struggling in his personal life and career. He jumps on the chance to interview Louis to allow him to write something groundbreaking.

The series will follow Louis’ story and how he went from a plantation owner living in Louisiana to becoming a vampire after meeting the cunning and sinister vampire, Lestat de Lioncourt. In search of a companion, Lestat offers him immortality by joining him through his travels around the world. Lonely and distraught, Louis agrees to be his immortal ally and is made into a vampire that night. However, it doesn’t take him long to become repulsed by Lestat’s true nature after seeing how he feeds off of people.

A trailer for the show was released at this year’s Comic-Con, and with thrilling footage from the show, fans also got information regarding the narrative that Interview with the Vampire will follow. The description reads:

Mark Johnson, an executive producer of the show, promises that the show will remain faithful to the books even though changes will be made to bring this story to the present day. The show will mention the COVID-19 pandemic by placing Daniel as a professor teaching online classes. Johnson also told People about the immense pressure and responsibility that the producers and writers have in adapting these beloved books, saying:

“Interview with the Vampire follows Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt and Claudia’s epic story of love, blood, and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Daniel Molloy. Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist the rakish Lestat’s offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion. But Louis’s intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat’s newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement.”

Interview with the Vampire: The Cast

The cast features Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm in Game of Thrones) as the brooding Louis and Sam Reid (Belle) as the devilish Lestat. Changes were also made to the casting, as creators were seeking out a Black actor in their 30s to take on the role of Louis. He will be an owner of brothels rather than a plantation owner from the books. Young newcomer Bailey Bass will take on the part of the precocious young vampire, Claudia, who was previously played by then ten-year-old Kirsten Dunst in the 1994 film.

“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.”

The cast also includes Eric Bogosian (Uncut Gems) taking on the role of Daniel Malloy, the reporter to whom Louis narrates his life story. The show’s character will reportedly be much older than the source text. Christian Robinson and Kaylne Coleman also join the cast in reoccurring roles.

Interview with the Vampire: Everything Else We Know

A first look image for the show was released in July 2022, teasing fans with just a glimpse of Reid as Lestat. While fans of the books were ecstatic at their first look into Interview with the Vampire, some were also concerned regarding the series’ faithfulness to its original source. However, showrunners Rolin Jones (Perry Mason) and Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) assured that the series will live up to the expectations of Rice’s fans.

In talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Jones said:

Despite the reassurances, the trailer revealed at Comic-Con revealed a few changes to the source text. One of the more noticeable is that the series is set in 1910, whereas the books are set in 1791. The shift in the timeline is quite exciting given that, as per Rolin Jones, the series will focus on a second interview that Molloy has with Louis, forty-odd years after the first. According to Eric Bogosian:

“We know how much this book and the ones that follow mean to their massive fan base. We feel you over our shoulders as we tend the Savage Garden. Louis and Lestat are coming out of hiding, and we can’t wait to reunite them with you.”

Before her untimely death last December, Anne Rice was attached as an executive producer with her son Christopher Rice. Rice’s novel was first released in 1976, and she also served as the screenwriter for the 1994 film adaptation. The showrunners have assured fans that her spirit will continue to be integral to the series and honor the legacy and the fanbase she has generated worldwide.

“The script is very clear that it’s forty-something years later, and Daniel is no longer the boy who was a novice journalist, just starting out, making tapes of this vampire interview.”

Release Date

After many ups and downs over the years, the release of the season is now, thankfully, not too far off. Interview with the Vampire is set to air on October 2, 2022. Showrunners have confirmed that season one of the show won’t cover the whole book and have expressed their hopes that the story will continue for more seasons to come.