Did you love Interview With The Vampire? Then get ready for The Vampire Lestat, premiering in June on AMC+. This season will follow meteoritic rise and fall of Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) as he embarks on a rockstar journey while exploring his past.
A three-minute sneak peek of The Vampire Lestat was released this week at IGN Fest, in what probably will be the series’s first scene. After the events of Interview With The Vampire season 2, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Game of Thrones alum Jacob Anderson) finally reunited with Lestat after over seven decades apart. For two years, fans have been at the edge of their seats, wondering what would happen next between the two former lovers. Now, we finally know that Louis and Lestat stayed in contact, even if miles apart. Nothing says exes turned friends turned long-distance situationship quite like this scene, truly a treat for fans of the show.
The vibe of this scene is so wholesome and deliciously flirtatious, until the internet drops a truth bomb on Lestat and reveals that Louis recounted his life (and aired their dirty laundry) to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) who published a book about it. It’s safe to say that this revelation, and the way the book describes Lestat, will devastate the vampire and shatter the tentative relationship he and Louis were working to rebuild. Lestat’s next step? Join a rock band, become their front man, and drown his feelings in his new rockstar persona, complete with a tour, groupies, drugs, and much more.
What will The Vampire Lestat be about?
Now that he’s obtained fame on his own terms, Lestat wants to tell his own version of the story, and pursues Daniel Molloy for his own interview. Many secrets from Lestat’s past will come to light. His human life, his family, his turning, and past loves; we will also revisit moments of his life with Louis that we thought we knew and see them in a different light, from Lestat’s much different recollection.
The Vampire Lestat is, for all intents and purposes, season 3 of Interview With The Vampire. A shift in style and tone warranted a rebranding, which renders homage to the book that this season is based on, The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, book 2 of The Vampire Chronicles. Also, Lestat de Lioncourt simply demands center stage, and it’s only fair he gets it.
"In season 3, Lestat's living a rockstar life in its most hedonistic, authentic way," says Lestat actor Sam Reid, whose portrayal of the character is expected to reach new heights this season in a whole new context.
This season, the show is fully leaning into the musical aspects of the story and giving fans a wild rock journey as we explore Lestat’s past while he recounts it in the present. It’s not enough to see Lestat perform on the show: they are going much more meta, with The Vampire Lestat transcending the line between fictional character and real-life celebrity. Season 3 will feature various songs performed by The Vampire Lestat thanks to the incredible voice of actor Sam Reid.
Lestat now has his own artist profile on Spotify, Apple Music, and the main streaming platform as if he were a real-life artist. Lestat’s first single “Long Face,” written by series composer Daniel Hart, was released earlier this month and has earned nearly 400,000 listens in two weeks.
AMC Networks even issued a press release in which Lestat, the character, gave a statement, fully in character:
“Long Face is the first song Daniel Hart ‘produced’ for my album. He decided early on to steal where he could from Bowie because he hasn’t had an original idea for five years now (is that his Green Knight score fading in the rear view?) As for Long Face, the bass should have walked down with the guitar at the end instead of pedaling on E. Predictable. Like everything Daniel Hart touches.”
What Interview With The Vampire characters will appear in The Vampire Lestat?
The season’s synopsis gives us a good idea at what other characters will appear this season.
Resentful of the perfunctory portrayal in the trashy bestseller “Interview with the Vampire,” the Vampire Lestat (Sam Reid) sets his story straight in a way only the Vampire Lestat can—by starting a band and going on tour. Gabriella. Nicholas. Magnus. Marius. Those Who Must Be Kept. They join Louis, Armand, Molloy, Sam, Raglan, Fareed and others we can’t tell you about yet on a sexy pilgrimage across space, time and trauma. No Auto-Tuning. No Trigger Warnings. All Feels Amplified.
Alongside Reid, season 3 also stars Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles, Jennifer Ehle and Sheila Atim, among others.
Apart from Lestat, Louis, and Daniel, we will see also see Armand and Claudia again. Plus, we will meet Lestat’s mother Gabriella de Lioncourt and the formidable vampire queen Akasha.
New scenes from The Vampire Lestat
So far, AMC+ has released a couple of teasers allowing us a glimpse at the new series and another one of Lestat's songs, "Bang Bang" is featured in the extended first look below.
Two key scenes offer crucial information: Daniel explains to Louis how he came to interview Lestat and direct the documentary. And later we see Lestat and Louis — many months, if not years, after the first scene where we saw them playfully flirt over video call — now sitting in a room with their lawyers, possibly over a multi-million lawsuit — or simply divorce papers.
The hype has reached unprecedented levels. It's high time for these characters to return to our screens and for Lestat to be given his chance to shine even brighter than the sun.
The Vampire Lestat premieres this June, and we couldn’t be more excited to cover the show.