At San Diego Comic Con, the cast and creators of Interview with the Vampire (now known as The Vampire Lestat) sat down with members of the press to discuss what we might expect from season three of the show. At the press conference, producer Mark Johnson, showrunner Rolin Jones, actors Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Eric Bogosian and composer Daniel Hart offered some insights into our most burning questions. From the romance between Louis and Lestat, to the core theme of season three, to the finding the fanbase, lets dive into all things Interview with the Vampire season three.
On the Major Theme of Interview with the Vampire Season 3
Interview with the Vampire has had two very thematically driven seasons. In season one, the characters were driven by the idea of reclamation of identity. In season two, the series focused on the idea of unveiling the truth. But what theme will season three of Interview with the Vampire be grappling with?
Well, Rolin Jones shares the central theme of The Vampire Lestat is “Mortality.” Expanding on the idea to share, “We’re really, really going after mortality, which is a strange thing for Immortals. It’s so interesting because Lestat is not really a guy who has spent a lot of time looking inward. And there’s this transformation that’s happening between, I think, the performative vampire and the actual vampire. And there’s an event that happens that we start with on episode one that literally questions this, and says, “Oh, okay, I thought I was in the middle of this. I thought I was doing this, and oh, I’m doing this.” So there’s a little bit of the portrait of the artist and throwing yourself out there, right? You put this music out there, thinking, “This is how I’m going to tell my story. I’m going to tell it this way.” And you think, “I’ve been able to control my life” and do that, and then leave it aside.”
Jones continues, “And for once, I think this music and putting himself out there as an artist, opens him up to a level of introspection that is dangerous, thrilling, very, very terrifying, and that he’s not prepared for it. And so we’re in a real Hamlet situation here. I think that he’s going after the really, really big things, and I think he’s charging forward with abandon.”
And where does that leave Lestat in Interview with the Vampire season 3? Rolin Jones ponders that very question aloud, “Does that mean trying to end it? Don’t know. Does that mean he’s trying to get to the other side of this? What is all this acting out? What is this longing for extremity? All these vampires, they live with these really, really extreme emotions. What we go through in one life, all the baggage that we collect, they do it over and over and over again. So that’s what’s really interesting about Lestat going through it, right? He’s not a naval gazer, and suddenly this thing that’s within him cracks it all open. And I think it is an immortal really, really pondering and considering mortality and how to be and how to be. It’s really pure vampire shit this year. We’re really in vampire mortality and morality.”
Mortality and morality, we like that.
On the Upcoming Unraveling of The Vampire Lestat
Although season three of Interview with the Vampire is actually called The Vampire Lestat, getting to the heart of Lestat is no easy task. Sam Reid discusses stripping away layers of Lestat at various times, noting that in the past seasons, it has been a really difficult thing to do. “It was really challenging.” Reid reveals, sharing that director Levan Akin challenged him to take away everything that was Lestat and see what was left. “The first time he did it was in season one, where Lestat turns up with a car and he’s got the keys and he’s like, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m nothing without you.’ He said, ‘Let’s see if we can take the whole character away.’ It’s very hard thing to do. And we did it again with Magnus, and then we did it at the end of season two; we try and take away all of these layers of character.”
But that, Reid considers, “is kind of the key to the character in a way, because as Roland says, there’s so much performative nature, and he’s built this whole world of a construct of himself. There’s got to be a guy underneath it, like pulling the strings. And it’s quite challenging because it’s so much more seductive and more fun to play the clown and it’s to play the real guy. But that’s kind of the joy and the challenge that we have.”
It sounds like Lestat isn’t going to get much choice in the matter in season three of Interview with the Vampire, though. We begin The Vampire Lestat with “Lestat in his invincible mode,” Rolin Jones teases us, “And then we just take a sledgehammer to that, over and over and over again.”
Oh no… but also oh yes.
On Finding Interview with the Vampire‘s Audience
When considering what draws fans to Anne Rice’s world and specifically the world of Interview with the Vampire, here’s what Rolin Jones had to share, “These relationships [in Interview with the Vampire] are fearless about having an aggression of feeling. And maybe that is something that you don’t see on television enough, in procedurals and all that sort of thing. Just characters, scenes, and episodes rigged to make you feel, and that haunt people to stay in your box a little bit. And maybe it helps if there are attractive people for everybody.”
He adds, “I think we have a lot of different groups that feel very passionately about this, and we’ve watched it grow over the last couple of years… I have no idea, actually, what the demographic is, except for very messed-up and joyfully messed-up people.” And it’s well-known that joyfully messed-up people are the best kind.
Building on the thoughts, Sam Reid notes, “Anne Rice said that she didn’t feel specifically associated with any specific gender herself. So whether or not it’s predominantly women or whether it’s mostly people who feel othered in some way, I think it’s that the show and the work speaks to that because she puts humanity within this point of view of the monster or the witch or the vampire or the mummy or whatever it is. And it’s that same tradition, and I’ve said this before, but it is that same tradition of Mary Shelley, of putting the point of view inside the other. And that does change the way that you look at somebody who is considered “a monster,” considered an outsider, and it gives humanity to that character and a sense of perspective. I think it’s very relatable.”
Ultimately, Jacob Anderson offers, “I think the people that need this show were found the show, and that’s what matters really.”
On Louis’ Relationships with Claudia, Lestat, and Daniel
Taking a deep look at Louis, Jacob Anderson shares that the most intensive parts of creating Louis always have to do with Claudia. He reveals, “I think the most difficult stuff, the most difficult is always anything to do with Claudia. It is really hard because of how much of an anchor to everything Claudia is. She’s like the core. All of the characters have this really unique relationship with her. And obviously, Louis has a very complicated, deep love for her. So anything to do with her was difficult. And also, I’m a parent, so that stabs at something personal that I can’t really separate as well as I normally can.”
But Louis’ other relationships, especially with Daniel and Lestat, also play a key role for the actor and character. “The fun stuff, I think it’s like, there are two things. One is goading Daniel Molloy. I loved that in season two. That was really fun, having fun in Dubai, having fun with the language, being a wind up. I love that side of Louis. And the other thing was, the other thing was with Lestat, that kind of unhinged Louis, and anything that you hadn’t seen before, in season two, that you hadn’t seen Louis doing, is always fun. And there’s more of that to come, that side of Louis that he doesn’t recognize in himself necessarily when he’s telling his own story.”
On Armand in Interview with the Vampire Season 3
Armand played a huge role in Interview with the Vampire season two—brainwashing Louis, engineering the death of Claudia, turning Daniel Molloy into a vampire, and generally making a huge mess of things (chiefly his own life). So, of course, he amassed a huge fanbase that loves him ardently. As part of the “Armand Apologists,” Nerdist had to ask what he’d be up to in Interview with the Vampire season three.
Here’s what Rolin Jones had to say about Armand’s role in The Vampire Lestat. “Give us a second to introduce a bunch of things that are going on. And then let him come in, full gremlin. You’ll be pleased.”
We’ll be holding Jones to that. More Armand, STAT. You can read our write-up of Armand in season three of Interview with the Vampire here, or by clicking the below link.
On Louis and Lestat’s Love, Relationship, and “Divorce Era” in Interview with the Vampire Season 3
This topic of Lestat and Louis’ love was so widely discussed by the stars that it needed its own article. You can read it here or click below.
On the Music of The Vampire Lestat in Interview with the Vampire Season 3
Again, there was so much to say about the music of The Vampire Lestat, we gave the discussion its own piece. Check it out here.
We can’t wait to see what Interview with the Vampire season three has in store for us when it releases in 2026.
The post IWTV Cast & Creators Talk Season 3’s Core Theme, Unraveling Lestat, and Finding Their Audience appeared first on Nerdist.
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