Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.The release of AMC’sInterview with the Vampirebrought back the rich, gothic world of the legendary and best-selling horror novel of the same title by the lateAnne Rice(originally published in 1976). Those responsible for developing Rice’s novel into a show initially emphasized the intention to stay true to the rich source material and give the classic story a modern spin. “In many ways, our show is truer to the book than the movie was, which is ironic because Anne Rice herself wrote the screenplay to the movie,” stated executive producerMark Johnsonin hisexclusive interview withEntertainment Weekly.
Indeed, it is impossible to talk about the new screen adaptation of Rice’s work without recallingNeil Jordan’s evocative 1994 movie of the same titlestarringTom Cruise,Brad Pitt,Kirsten Dunst, andAntonio Banderas. Despite being widely acclaimed by the critics (the movie won multiple BAFTA awards, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Set Design and Best Music), it is often regarded as an interpretation rather than an adaptation of the novel – Rice had to cram the events of the book into a two-hour movie format. Fortunately, the length of the series allows for plunging into the intricacies of Rice’s book universe and exploringthe complex characters' relationsand background stories. The new adaptation of the cult vampire novel promised to strike a fine balance and effortlessly reimagine certain aspects of the story to critical acclaim while tying it to the present-day world, makingInterview with the Vampirea thrilling watch for both die-hard fans ofThe Vampire Chronicles(a series of 15 novels) and those who only begin to discover the Immortal Universe. While the show debuted to positive reception from both critics and fans alike, there is a legitimate question of how much AMC’sInterview with the Vampireis true to the source and what its creators want to say after almost half a century since the release of the book and nearly three decades after the success of the movie adaptation. While we wait for the third season ofInterview with the Vampirelet’s dive intothe differences between the source material and the beloved AMC+ series.
How Does AMC’s ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Differ From the Book?
In some regards, the show picks up where the movie ends — presenting the meeting of Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) and Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) in Dubai as a reunion of old acquaintances who have an unfinished business to settle. Yet, when Louis starts to recall his story, the sense of continuity is broken. Louis in the show is substantially different not only from the movie version but also from his literary prototype. From an 18th-century planter, he is transformed into a brothel owner at the dawn of the 20th century.The timeline shift, as well as different character traits, do not affect the tragic trigger — the suicide of a beloved brother – that plunges Louis into the depth of despair and leads to the path of darkness. The order of the events is slightly different in the book and the series. In the latter, the meeting between Louis and Lestat (Sam Reid) precedes the sequence of dramatic events, which allows the characters to develop mutual feelings. In contrast, in the book,Lestat finds Louis in the aftermathof the tragedy, emotionally devastated and on the verge of ending his own life. In the book, the transformation for Louis is a way to end the cycle of pain endowed upon him by the death of his brother; in the series, he clearly sees Lestat’s offer as an opportunity to shake off the shackles of society.
In AMC’sInterview with the Vampire, Louis is played byJacob Anderson, who is of African-Caribbean and English descent. Contrary to the opinion of those who have only seen the 1994 movie adaptation and imagine Louis as a white planter, the series' cast is actually closer to the book in which the character is described as a Creole (a descendant of French or Spanish colonists and African slaves with mixed racial heritage). Besides,the color of his skin is woven into the bigger historical contextof the era when blackness and queerness were equally alienating things. “You could be a lot of things in New Orleans, but an openly gay Negro man was not one of them,” lamentably remarks Louis in his confession. Notably, Claudia (Bailey Bass) in the show is also portrayed as a person of color, which further bonds her to Louis and separates her from Lestat, bringing the complex family dynamic an extra layer of meaning. Claudia has been turned from a five-year-old child (in the book)into a teenager on the verge of puberty (in the series). The choice to age the character is rather justifiable, as the original book description would place tight restrictions on the showrunners andraise moral concernsregarding the depiction of her and Louis' complex story arc.
On the other hand, Lestat was oftenportrayed as somewhat of an enigmathroughout the original Anne Rice novel.Lestat is a mysterywho never shares any details of his past with his lover, Louis. There were never any discussions regarding his creator or even a mention of his prior lovers. It’s unclear if the intention was to suggest Louis withheld this information in the original interview or if Lestat never told him. Regardless,Louis has proven to be an unreliable narrator, as many of his depictions of Lestat are through the lense of his resentment and animosity towards him. In the AMC adaption, not only do we learn a bit more about his past, but it’s weaponized against him by Claudia when his former lover and creator are mentioned. Since this is the second attempt to tell his story, it’s possible this time around Louis simply opened up more.
Daniel Molloy Has Increased Importance in the Show
One character who is significantlyolder than his book prototype is Daniel Molloy. We are first introduced to him as an experienced author at the end of his career, looking for the last chance to snatch the interview of a lifetime. However, the book version of his character does appear during flashbacks as the young, drug-fluid, hungry-for-breakthrough journalist in the book. Malloy was revealed to have turned into a vampire by Armand in the third book ofThe Vampire Chronicles, Queen of the Damned.In the series, Malloy is a mortal until the last episode of Season 2,where it’s revealed Armand turned Daniel to get back at Louis, since Louis explicitly warned him not to harm Daniel, especially since Daniel’s journalistic skills were key to revealing Armand’s lies. This is one of the ways Daniel plays a more important role in the showcompared to the books, as in the book, Daniel was simply a young man pressing play on a tape recorder in the original novel, and his name wasn’t even revealed until the thirdVampire Chronicle, The Queen of the Damned. The interactions between Daniel Molloy and Louis are engaging and prevalent throughout both seasons. Since Daniel Molloy is older, he’s able to keep up with Louis better intellectually, andDaniel’s quick wit and commentary puts a more contemporary perspective on Louis' story, forcing Louis to confront the modern implications of the semi-romanticized perspective onhis relationship with Lestat. Daniel criticizes his story by modern standards.
Set as a recollection of the past,Interview with the Vampire– both the original novel and the screen adaptations – widely uses the principle of time jumps from the past into the present and back again. The shift in the series timeline in comparison to the book – from the 18th to the early 20th century and from the 1970s to the 2020s – only partially affects the narrative,bringing new historical context and details(e.g. use of digital technologies over analog). New Orleans remains the central stage on which the drama unfolds – in the book, Louis is described as an owner of two indigo plantations on the Mississippi near New Orleans. New in this equation is Dubai with its modernist architecture (in the book, the original interview takes place in San Francisco) as well as the character of Rashid (Assad Zaman), who begins as Louis' mysterious companion but is later revealed as his lover.
While this initial interview is wholeheartedly modern, the original 1970s meeting between Louis and Daniel Molloy is still explored in the second season. In the original novel, their interview occurs in one night. The interview ends withMolloy even asking Louis to turn him into a vampire, and Louis attacks Molloy but doesn’t kill him. The pair never encounter each other again in the books. While Molloy becameobsessed with finding Lestat, he only ever encountered the vampire Armand. In the show, Molloy never published the details of the original conversation in the 1970s. Louis accepted an invitation for a second chance to tell his story, which allowed it to be retold in a more nuanced context. Daniel doesn’t hesitate to point out falsehoods Louis tells or even point out when he embellishes.This is a great narrative tool for better embracing the queer parts of Rice’s original story.
How Does ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Connect to ‘Mayfair Witches’?
As the Immortal Universe expands on AMC, so do its references.
There Are Major Differences in Armand’s Relationship with Louis Between the Show and Books
Unlike the AMC+ series, Armand has left Louis by the time the events of the book unfold. However, both in the first meeting in San Francisco and in the modern interview in 2022, Armand never leaves Louis. Armand and Louis remain together for fifty years,which only adds to the drama of Armand and Louis' inevitable collapse. The flashbacks that often occur in the show hold Louis and, more importantly, Armand, accountable for their dishonesty. In the TV show, Armand and Louis are separated by the end of their book one adaptation. As Louis and Daniel interact, it becomes clear that both have inconsistent memories of their 1973 encounter. In the show, Armand interferes with their recollections of the events. While Armand’s memory wipes were somewhat an embellishment of the actions the novel depicted, it was not a far leap.Armand’s deceptive ways were accurately captured. He was a complex character and was accurately portrayed as sympathetic, much like howthe Anne Rice book seriesdid, despite the reveal of his deception and the lies much ofLouis and Armand’s relationshipwas based on.
By the Season 2 finale, Louis' servant Rashid is revealed toactually be the vampire Armand, who originally wasn’t introduced until the second half of the Anne Rice novel. In the book, Armand is described as being eternally youthful physically, even though he is, in reality, one of the oldest vampires he’d ever met.Armand’s infatuation with Louis was nearly instant,though Louis was focused on Claudia more than anything. Since she was an obstacle to Armand’s desire to be with Louis, he killed her by exposing her to sunlight. They fled the theater together after Louis set it on fire and stayed together until the 1920s. As far as it can be judged by the first and second seasons,Interview with the Vampirehas kept its promise to honor the original novel but brings a new and exciting drama to the (blood-)thirsty audience.
WATCH ON AMC+
Interview with the Vampire
Based on Anne Rice’s iconic novel, follow Louis de Pointe’s epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy.
