Teenagers everywhere fell under the spell of Rice’s vampires in the mid-‘80s with an ardor that AMC’s “The Vampire Lestat” radiates through the devotion of his superfans. To them, the music of Lestat, played by Sam Reid, floats their souls as closely to eternity as the psychedelics some gobble down like SweeTarts. Draining a few isn’t enough to make them renounce their loyalty to his congregation, known as the Beautiful Unwell. That’s real rock star power, the kind that remade every blood-drinker that slinked forth since Lestat took center stage for the first time.
Vampires have long been entwined with sex and death. Before “Interview with the Vampire” and “The Vampire Lestat,” Hammer Film Productions’ gothic horror movies made “Dracula” their standard bearer. But the pansexual Lestat de Lioncourt transformed them into rebellious, romantic figures, the stuff of adolescent FOMO, as opposed to decaying ghouls.
In movies, he’s been played by Tom Cruise in the original “Interview with the Vampire,” and Stuart Townsend in “Queen of the Damned.” His made-for-TV version is the most enchanting of all, though. Reid’s Lestat sings, gyrates, gets blood drunk and trashes hotel rooms like a prom king — one channeling a bit of “Stooges”-era Iggy Pop mixed with the flamboyance of T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, swanning about with an assortment of temporary bedfellows. There was a time many of us would have died, literally, to be in Lestat’s orbit. And creator and showrunner Rolin Jones knows it.
(Sophie Giraud/AMC) Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt
Reid’s Lestat and Jacob Anderson’s Louis are for the adults raised on Rice’s novels — not the so-called “kidults” of recent yesteryear, but the Olds who can still channel their teen spirit without the assistance of a Mayfair witch. If you’re feverish for the kind of crotch rock Reid’s been teasing in the many previews promoting the show, you probably came of age when vampires were served up with sides of sex, intoxication and lawlessness.
Joel Schumacher’s 1987 classic, “The Lost Boys,” became the first of its era to deliver a vision closer to Rice’s — save for Kathryn Bigelow’s cult classic, “Near Dark,” which came out later the same year.
One of its writers, James Jeremias, was loosely inspired by “Interview,” which may be why Kiefer Sutherland’s rebellious vampire, David, feels spiritually closer to Lestat than the sparkly fang boys of “The Twilight Saga.”
Stephenie Meyer’s Edward Cullen is as much a creature of the comparatively chaste aughts as Lestat evokes the materialistic, fame-hungry ‘80s. In the wake of “Twilight” came the TV adaptation of “The Vampire Diaries” novels and their love affair between a teenage girl named Elena (Nina Dobrev) and two ancient undead beefcakes named Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon Salvatore (Ian Somerhalder). Before Edward and Bella took over the world, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” viewers ached for David Boreanaz’s Angel and James Marsters’ Spike, centuries-old bros who fall for a very special high school blonde. For some reason, the relationships between these much, much older men and teenage girls don’t seem taboo when the age gap spans centuries.
Anyway, it could be grosser. (It can always be grosser! ) In “The Vampire Lestat,” the namesake idol’s cry for companionship is answered by Gabrielle (Jennifer Ehle), his mother in life who becomes his lover after he turns her. Rice’s readers might not have been quite so queasy about this; her antihero has a way of making many horrors palatable. The show, thank goodness, eventually addresses that ickiness.
By that point, Reid’s red-soaked rocker has us in his thrall, possibly stomping down any unease you may have about that coupling. (“Game of Thrones” hardened people to incest many years ago, sad to say.)
(Sophie Giraud/AMC) Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC
The 1980s had a lot in common with today, including a permissiveness that allowed powerful celebrities like Lestat to escape consequences. But thanks to Reid’s indefatigable charisma, this vampire sidesteps the resentment millions hold for real-life bloodsuckers by inviting us behind the velvet curtain. If you could get away with half of the artistic and legal felonies Lestat does and look fantastic doing it, you probably would . . . wouldn’t you?
This unspoken desire hides deep in the catacombs of our juvenile vampire fantasies, an awareness that this fleeting time of youth and beauty coincides with tremendous anxiety, confusion and parentally imposed restrictions. Vampires, like rock stars, are the ultimate free spirits released from morality and the laws binding humans who can’t afford expensive lawyers.
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Creatures ruled by bloodlust are not so different from teenagers, come to think of it. Both can be wild, id-driven, defiant beasts confident in their invincibility. In an amoral age, when so little of what’s seen and said is believable, rules are virtually obsolete. This is where we find Lestat in Season 3, preaching the gospel that this is his time.
Lestat tears down The Devil’s Road, thrilling crowds at mid-sized venues in towns like Detroit, Toronto and Toledo, Ohio, while purring about ennui and excess to Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), a newly made vampire resurrected, career-wise, as a documentarian. Lestat is slightly bored with existing yet curious to see whether his music, primarily plied on the Internet, can reach enough undead followers to hasten the vampire apocalypse known as The Great Conversion.
Beyond all this is his afterlife’s driving existential question. “Why do I actively, manically pursue failure?” he asks. The show leaves this open, which is fine by me. I’d happily tag along for more delirious seasons as he searches for answers. Sometimes, rousing our dormant inner adolescent is a job for a very old monster with a rock and roll heart where his soul should be.
“The Vampire Lestat” airs at 9 p.m. Sundays on AMC and AMC+.
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