The Vampire Lestat reveals new intriguing details and photos—here's what it means

It’s Lestat’s world, we’re just living in it. 

After a two-year hiatus, AMC's Interview With The Vampire is returning for season 3 as The Vampire Lestat on June 7. The reason behind the rebranding is simple: Lestat de Lioncourt is entering centre stage in his rockstar era. Today, Entertainment Weekly released an exclusive feature with cast interviews and unseen footage from the new season. Let's analyze everything we discovered today!

Based on the second book in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles by the same name,The Vampire Lestat will follow the meteoritic rise and fall of the fan-favorite immortal played by Sam Reid in his new rockstar career. And so Lestat sheds his elegant bespoke tailoring in favor of leather pants, eyeliner, glitter, hair dye, and lots of revealing outfits.

The series truly departs from previous seasons, it will almost feel like watching a whole different show. As teased by Jacob Anderson, who plays Louis de Pointe du Lac, "It's tonal whiplash in the most intentional way."

What will happen to Lestat?

Last we saw of Lestat and Louis in season 2, they were reuniting in a shack in New Orleans during a hurricane after being apart for 77 years. Their sweet hug and shared moment of understanding fueled hopeful fans during the two years of waiting. However, that is not where we'll meet the show's central couple.

The Vampire Lestat picks up long after that moment, after journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) has published Louis's memoir—also titled Interview With The Vampire—in which Louis aired his and Lestat's dirty laundry... suffice it to say, Lestat isn't too happy about that and the two have once again grown apart.

Alone once again, Lestat craves validation, seeking to be adored by billions so he can fill the Louis-shaped void left in his heart, as the older vampire considers the memoir as a betrayal from his immortal companion. He wants to tell his side of the story, correct the parts that were wrong. Mostly, he will take any opportunity to shine and revel in the spotlight, so he launches a music career and employs Molloy to direct a documentary about his life.

As he addresses adoring fans and journalists in the photo above, Lestat sports his signature look, that of when he's assessing his inferiors, his preys. He's clearly enjoying this, but series showrunner Rolin Jones promises it's not all going to be fun and games. Rock and roll won't fix Lestat, and certainly fame won't either: "We thought, 'What's the worst thing we could do to Lestat to put him through the ringer?' Force him to be a rock star in 2025 when no one gives a s**t about rock & roll."

This season will be the unmaking of the vampire Lestat. As he embarks on his tour and an interview of his own, we will be forced to unlearn most of what we know about Lestat and find out things that were hinted at or concealed during the first two seasons. Lestat's past will be uncovered bit by bit, starting from his human life, family, his time in Paris, his first relationship, his turning, and much more. Jones teases, "We disassemble a lot of stuff that's inside him. That's what's exciting about the structure of it: It starts out with all the armor upfront, and then we just start smashing away."

What is Louis up to?

"I was shocked," Anderson revealed to EW. "He's having a really, really rough time."

Louis de Pointe du Lac is off being a billionaire businessman, real estate mogul and art dealer. The exclusive photo shared by EW shows Louis smiling an all-too-happy uncanny smile, considering that a torn-up copy of his memoir is sitting on the table in front of him. We know from a past teaser trailer that Louis absolutely hated the book, because it made him appear passive and put words in his mouth he didn't utter... that would be the Talamasca's careful editing, we can safely assume.

Far from reprising his rightful role as Lestat's immortal companion, Louis will have to endure some tough times this season, on an original journey that the show wrote for him that wasn't in The Vampire Lestat book by Anne Rice. In this, fans have a little mystery to look forward to.

Our guess is that Louis will be putting up with plenty of attacks on his life from angry vampires seeking revenge for revealing their nature to the human world. On an introspective level, Louis will certainly be haunted by the memory of his daughter Claudia, played in season 1 by Bailey Bass and later by Delainey Hayles, who we're happy to announce, is returning for season 3.

Claudia will undoubtedly appear in flashback sequences from both Louis and Lestat, but also in the present as a figment of their guilt. We know from season 2 that Louis is no stranger to those hallucinations... In fact, Hayles comments: "Claudia is playing on Louis' mind a lot, and that's something he'll never heal from. The grief is part of him."

Anderson teases that "Nobody will guess what's gonna happen next," with Louis and Lestat, and we trust that the show's excellent writers have given them a storyline as deep and exhilarating as in the past.

What about Daniel and Armand?

Daniel, tasked with the disassembling of Lestat's character, will be having a completely different experience than he had when he interviewed Louis. First of all, Daniel is a vampire now. "I was just ready to start biting people," joked Bogosian. His new immortal nature will make Daniel even more insistent in his prodding, and this won't fly well with Lestat, who's volatile on the best of days, let alone when discussing all his traumas.

This, we can say for certain: Daniel and Lestat will not be getting along as well as the journalist and Louis did. Still, they will need to learn to tolerate each other if they are to work together, and build their way to an odd friendship for both their sakes. In the photo above, Daniel is pictured at one of Lestat's concerts, his press pass granting him access to all areas of the backstage.

Armand (Assad Zaman) will also return. We wil get to see him in modern day - my money is on a few scenes with Daniel—his fledging and new/old love interest—but we will mostly be seeing past Armand from Lestat's memories. Who, Zaman teases, is a very different person from the Armand we know: "Lestat's Armand is a little more desperate and empathetic and slightly irritating." The gremlin returns!

Introducing Gabriella

We will meet more than one force-of-nature woman this season. First up is Gabriella de Lioncourt (Jennifer Ehle), the person who birthed Lestat... only for her son to return the favor later on, which links them indissolubly and makes their relationship very unconventional.

Born a Neapolitan noblewoman in the 18th century, Gabriella was married off very young to Lestat's father, a bit of a brute, but a fallen French aristocrat at that. Gabriella's persona from the past will be almost unrecognizable to the one we'll meet in present-day.

Ehle commented that it's almost like she plays two separate characters, a caged, abused woman who is "then liberated and given complete and utter freedom" and thus becomes ruthless in a way that only somebody who has truly suffered can be.

Getting to know Gabriella will also give viewers a front-row seat to why Lestat is the way he is. She's is a very influential figure on Lestat, if not in the regular way a mother would be... literally in the manipulative and controlling sense.

The show is making no secret of the fact that their relationship is, unquestionably, incestuous. We even saw mother and son kiss in the trailer. However, Jones promises an unconventional and necessary spin on the incest plot. "She's not there just to plug in why Lestat is so messed up as he is. We made the challenge of like, 'Okay, we'll do that, but you're gonna understand it. Whether or not you like it, you're going to understand it.'"

The creators behind the show are aware that some aspects of this season may not be everyone's cup of tea—then again, the show has never shied away from showing abuse or toxic relationships; why would this be any different? Rolin promises that the story told in The Vampire Lestat will never be even remotely close to boring. What more could fans ask for?

The Vampire Lestat is undoubtedly the most compelling show of the summer. In full Lestat character, the series is premiering at the beginning of Pride Month, so get ready to support your favorite gay vampires and watch TVL on AMC and AMC+ on June 7.

As we wait for more material to be released from the new season, which we will cover promptly here at Winter Is Coming, don't foget to stream The Vampire Lestat's first three songs. His fourth single, rumored to be titled Black Licorice, will come out very soon.

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