Anne Rice and her homoerotic vampir left an immortal mark on gay culture

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE LOUIS GAY

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data-activy-map="le-byle-article-top">By <span class="byle-name"><a href=">Elaa Patton</a></span></div></sectn><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><p class="">Gothic wrer Anne Rice’s most famo novel, “Interview Wh the Vampire,” returns to the screen a lavish AMC seri starrg Jab Anrson and Sam Reid as the dashg vampiric duo, Louis and Ltat. Posned as a ntuatn of Neil Jordan’s film adaptatn of the novel, the small-screen productn livers the steamy, plited romance that fans have longed for sce Brad Pt and Tom Cise glared suggtively at each other the atmospheric 1994 flick.</p><p class=""><strong>“</strong>Vampir trsilly are about yearng and love — immortal love and yearng over the ag,” Reid told NBC News, cg the famo immortals Nosferatu and Dracula as exampl. “They’re very emotnal, sperate begs who have to survive eterny and don’t ually want to do that alone. When you read Anne Rice, you see that Louis and Ltat.” </p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><div id="taboolaReadMoreBelow"></div><p class="">“This is the qutsential vampire story, really,” Reid add. “It’s this yearng and love and tensy, wh all of s darkt elements brought to the ont, and told over the centuri.” </p><sectn class="embed-widget embedWidget embed-widget--medium"><div class="embed-widget__e-prentatn embed-widget__iamely-youtube" style="--iame-height:0px"><div><div class="iamely-youtube iamely-player iamely-embed"><div class="iamely-rponsive"><iame data-src=" loadg="lazy" src="//" allowfullscreen scrollg="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-wre *; encrypted-media *; gyrospe *; picture--picture *;"></iame></div></div></div></div></sectn><p class="">In the seri, om creator Rol Jon, Louis and Ltat’s centuri-long love affair picks up 2022, a world ravaged by the panmic. Louis (Anrson) once aga approach journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) about rerdg his story for postery, after a failed attempt s before  — which end rather vlently for the film’s Molloy, played by Christian Slater. Motivated by cursy and ambn, the agg journalist signs on to nduct a seri of terviews, which nstut the seri’ ame narrative, at the vampire’s verno, high-rise rince Dubai.</p><p class="">Divergg om the novel, here Louis’ tale begs 1910, when he ns gamblg ho and brothels New Orleans’ French Quarter and acts as the head of a relatively privileged Black Creole fay. (Rice’s character, as portrayed by Pt, is a whe Creole plantatn owner whose orig story is set 1791.) Louis’ human existence revolv around his bs algs wh the cy’s bigoted ele and his close, if ntent, relatnship wh his siblgs (played by Kalyne Coleman and Steven Norfleet). That’s until the myster Ltat (Reid) arriv om Europe and brgs disaster his wake.</p><p class="">A seri of tragedi — and the men’s spect relatnship — rults Louis beg cut off om his pre-Ltat life. That’s when Ltat mak Louis the irristible offer of wealth, fluence and a place by his si — for all eterny.</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac "Interview wh the Vampire."" height="1667" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac "Interview wh the Vampire." </span><span class="ptn__source">Alfonso Brciani / AMC</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Louis’ immortal life alongsi his sctive and temperamental maker begs wh mid-air and ff-bound lovemakg, as well as explosive disagreements about the ethics of huntg humans for their blood. And, although love, the mismatched pair fd themselv wantg for more like-md pannship, which leads to Louis nvcg the olr vampire to turn a young, dyg girl, Cldia (Bailey Bass), to their third fay member. But Cldia — the role ma famo by a pre-teen Kirsten Dunst — only adds fuel to the fire, as she hers both Louis’ rentful attu toward immortaly and Ltat’s murro streak.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“There’s somethg so betifully domtic about Louis and Ltat the novels. They have this homels, this ep nnectn that they always e back to, no matter what’s happened,” Anrson said of translatg the vampir’ plited love affair on screen.</p><p class="">“But then they’ll burn each other’s ho down, as well,” Reid terjected, lghg. “It’s vampire love. Murr is our love language.” </p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac and Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt "Interview wh the Vampire."" height="1667" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac and Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt "Interview wh the Vampire." </span><span class="ptn__source">Alfonso Brciani / AMC</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Anrson and Reid’s approach to the protagonists’ fiery relatnship was very much rmed by Rice’s many novels volvg the characters, which llectively make up the Ltat-foced Vampire Chronicl seri. Reid me to the project as a longtime fan of Rice and the vampire genre, which he said he almost had to ph asi orr to approach the role effectively. And Anrson, although he dove eper to Rice’s work after beg st, also had a healthy grasp of the characters om readg the first few books the Vampire Chronicl.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class=""><strong>“</strong>I feel such an affy wh Louis. Although I do love Ltat the book seri, particularly ‘The Vampire Ltat’ on” Anrson said, referencg the send book the Vampire Chronicl. “There are tim that I don’t envy Sam.” </p><p class="">“He’s very plex,” Reid rpond, referrg to Ltat. “He<em> </em>is <em>a vampire</em>. And he behav ways that you would want a vampire to behave — otherwise, you wouldn’t be readg vampire lerature or lookg at vampir.”</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt "Interview wh the Vampire."" height="1667" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt "Interview wh the Vampire." </span><span class="ptn__source">Alfonso Brciani / AMC</span></figptn></figure><p class="">While dienc who are ls faiar wh Rice’s life and work may be surprised by the show’s portrayal of Louis and Ltat’s relatnship — or, as Anrson suggted, perhaps misdiagnose as a marketg ploy — the seeds for an explicly queer adaptatn of “Interview Wh the Vampire” were planted <a href=">s ago</a>. </p><p class="">The first and most famo novel the Vampire Chronicl seri was published 1976, when Rice was mourng the loss of her 5-year-old dghter, one of her two children wh poet Stan Rice. While the book failed to imprs crics, beme an immediate mercial succs, large part bee of s populary among gay rears, who rpond to the the seemgly queer-d domtic plotle and erotic dialogue.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">While the thor ially said the subtext hadn’t been tentnal, she never dismissed the readgs and, over the years, even nfirmed the characters’ queerns on multiple ocsns. In a <a href=">2012 terview</a>,<strong> </strong>she lled Louis and Ltat the “first vampire same-sex parents.” And she <a href=">later said</a> that Cldia was likely unnscly spired by her dghter, while she and Stan were the spiratns for her vampire fathers.</p><figure class="styl_leImage__yAWZ0 styl_medium__OMa6x"><picture class="styl_image__1qciH"><source media="(m-width: 1000px)" srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><source srcSet=" 2x, 1x"/><img loadg="lazy" src=" alt="Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt and Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac "Interview wh the Vampire."" height="1667" width="2500"/></picture><figptn class="ptn styl_ptn__Pe5JC"><span class="ptn__ntaer">Sam Reid as Ltat De Lnurt and Jab Anrson as Louis De Pot Du Lac "Interview wh the Vampire."</span><span class="ptn__source">Alfonso Brciani / AMC</span></figptn></figure><p class="">Notably, while Rice was not volved wh the film adaptatn and even openly cricized some of s creative choic, cludg Tom Cise’ stg, she was slated to be a producer on the AMC seri before her ath late 2021. (Her son, Christopher, who is also an acplished wrer, stepped as her reprentative after her passg.) Dpe Rice not livg to see the seri pleted, s stars said they felt nfint om the begng that Jon’ creatn lived up to the thor’s rich legacy.</p><p class="">“Readg the script for the first time, even before I was attached to , I uld tell that was the right approach to the material. You uld really feel that there was a huge amount of rpect for the books and what she was tryg to say,” Reid said, referrg to Rice. “And the lightns, the humor, the love story, the drama, the absurdy — all of that’s there.”</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">Although Jon’ versn stays te to Rice’s novels many ways, cludg the portrayal of Ltat — who was characterized the “Interview Wh the Vampire” novel as a bisexual and “tall, fair-skned man wh a mass of blond hair and a graceful, almost fele qualy” — do viate ways that will likely appeal to ntemporary viewers. For one, Rice’s world vampir uldn’t physilly have sex, which is certaly not the se the seri. And, most signifintly, there’s the restg of Louis as a Black man.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">Rather than takg the approach of lor-bld stg, Jon ream the story so that Louis, who begs immortal life at the begng of the 20th century, is alg wh the racism and limatns of the eras through which he liv. This, Anrson pots out, brgs another dimensn to this character’s fg stggle wh immortal life.</p><div class="remend-tersectn-ref" data-activy-map="remend-article-body-remend"></div><p class="">“Bee Louis’ central preoccupatn is his humany — and what he still retas om and what he’s lost om — if you st him as a person of lor but then don’t factor his race, then that would read as phony,” Anrson said. “I don’t really see what the pot would be.</p><p class="">“There are exampl of lorbld stg where ’s a fantasy character and you don’t need to go there. But, bee Louis’ ‘human-ns’ is so central to him, I wouldn’t have wanted to do if we weren’t gog to brg the real world to that way.”</p><p class="">Jon’ mment to craftg a realistic world for Rice’s fantastil characters is also seen the seri’ rich athetic prentatn. From Louis’ artfully rated apartment, beftg a century’s worth of wealth buildg, to the opulent rooms of the vampir’ French Quarter mansn, the seri’ backdrops are almost as evotive as s actors.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="">“The characters are trsilly lked to the cy. You walk around the French Quarter and you hear an Anne Rice tour every 100 meters. So was credibly important to everyone that New Orleans remaed this character,” Reid said, scribg the cy’s role the seri almost as if were an actor.</p><p class="">“Mara [LePere-Schloop], the signer, created the betiful sets. I mean, they were jt stunng. When I walked to the Rue Royale set for the first time, my legs buckled,” he add, referrg to the street on which the vampir’ luxur home ris. “It was credibly transportive.”</p><p class="">Durg filmg, the actors lived Rice’s beloved hometown for about six months, soakg up the cy’s famo late-night culture while pictg her nocturnal creatur.</p><p class="">“If you’re gonna live anywhere the untry, that’s where you want to live at night,” Reid said.</p><div class="ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer boxleAd dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxle" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[]],[[758,1],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[728,90],[360,360]]],[[0,0],[[300,250],[700,50],[5,5],[360,360]]]]" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te" data-offset-viewport="100"></div></div><p class="endmark"><strong><em>Follow </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>NBC Out</em></strong></a><strong><em> on </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Twter</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Facebook</em></strong></a><strong><em> & </em></strong><a href=" target="_blank"><strong><em>Instagram</em></strong></a>.</p></div><div class="article-body__ntent article-body-font--loadg"><div class="expand-byle-ntributors articleByleContaer"><div class="expand-byle article-expand-byle" data-activy-map="expand-byle-article-bottom"><span class="byle-thumbnail byle-thumbnail--no-image expand-byle__thumbnail"></span><span class="byle-name expand-byle__name"><a href=">Elaa Patton</a></span><span class="byle-social expand-byle__social"><a href="" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="byle-social--lk"><span class="in in-email"></span></a></span><div class="expand-byle__b-wrapper"><p class="byle-b expand-byle__b">Elaa Patton is a eelance entertament and culture wrer.</p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="article-body--right-rail-ntaer"><div class="article-body__right-rail layout-grid-em grid-l-4_5-l grid-l-3_5-xl grid-l-ph-half-xl"><div class="ad article-body__right-rail--ad ad--text-alignment ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="boxrail" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[300,250],[360,360]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="10" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="body-bottom-remend"><div class="ad ad--midrponsive ad-ntaer dn-prt"><div data-mps="te" data-slot="midrponsive" data-siz="[[[1000,1],[[700,1],[5,5]]],[[758,1],[]],[[0,0],[]]]" data-offset="300" data-reh-terval="0" data-renr-on-view="te" data-targetg="{}" data-active-tab="te"></div></div></div></div></div></article></div></div><div id="hfs-footer" class="dn-prt" data-activy-map="hfs-footer"><footer class="hfsf" ><div class="ner"><div class="logo"><a href="><svg class="peack" viewBox="578 62 67 39" xmlns=" fill="currentColor"><g fill-le="evenodd"><path d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M579.074 90.58c1.717-4.494 6.472-6.08 10.697-3.37l18.29 12.754h-22.18c-4.62 0-8.252-4.23-6.8-9.385"></path><path class="feather" d="M597.563 75.863l9.442 21.613-19.478-13.35c-4.887-3.24-3.896-8.79-1.19-11.237 3.83-3.24 9.245-2.12 11.226 2.97"></path><path class="feather" d="M610.57 70.93l-3.433 24.19-9.772-23c-2.113-5.75 2.64-9.516 5.81-9.583 3.632-.396 8.188 2.38 7.396 8.394"></path><path class="feather" d="M625.494 72.103l-9.707 23.067-3.102-20.82c-.265-3.17 1.716-3.237 2.443-3.832-.133-.463-1.124-.463-1.124-.463h-1.848c-.198-5.42 4.028-7.8 7.462-7.535 3.697.132 7.856 4.428 5.876 9.583"></path><path class="feather" d="M635.338 84.167L615.86 97.584l9.177-21.348c2.775-6.742 9.245-5.42 11.556-2.842 2.51 2.51 3.235 7.6-1.255 10.773"></path><path class="feather" d="M637.448 99.9h-22.515l18.29-12.756c4.49-2.975 9.244-.266 10.498 3.635 1.327 4.36-1.65 9.12-6.27 9.12"></path></g></svg></a></div><nav class="lks"><ul class="lks__wrap" data-l-2="14" data-l-3=15><li><a href=" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Contact</a></li><li><a href=">Help</a></li><li><a href=">Careers</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ad Choic</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Do Not Sell My Personal Informatn</a></li><li><a href=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CA Notice</a></li><li><a href=">Terms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)</a></li><li><a href=">NBC News Semap</a></li><li><a href=">Advertise</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Shoppg</a></li><li><a href=" target="_self">Select Personal Fance</a></li></ul></nav><div class="py"><p>© 2023 NBC UNIVERSAL</p><div class="brands"><a href="><svg viewBox="0 0 120 20" fill="none" xmlns=" aria-labelledby="nbc_news_logo"><tle class="nbc_news_logo">NBC News Logo .