In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac tells the story of his life to renown journalist Daniel Molloy. Beginning in 1910 New Orleans, Louis forms a vampire family with the vampire Lestat, complete with teen fledgling, Claudia. A television series by Rolin Jones, starring Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Eric Bogosian, Bailey Bass, and Assad Zaman.

INTERVIEW with the VAMPIRE is a television series, adapted from Anne Rice’s 1976 novel of the same name. It also features elements from The Vampire Chronicles. The novel was first adapted into a film in 1994. The novel received its first film adaptation in 1994. For the television series, Louis de Pointe du Lac narrates the story from the present day, in 2022, with the script revised and modernized.

Two-time Pulitzer-winning journalist Daniel Malloy (Eric Bogosian), who used to write articles for top-tier newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian, receives a box full of cassette tapes and an invitation letter from Louis de Pointe du Lac. And, it is revealed that those cassette tapes were the ones Daniel used to record Louis’s interviews in 1973.

Consumed by curiosity, Daniel boards a plane to Dubai, where Louis now resides. In his penthouse, Daniel finds Louis (Jacob Anderson) unchanged, looking exactly the same as the man he interviewed 49 years ago. In stark contrast, Daniel has become a sarcastic old man, his marriage failed, riddled with drug addiction, and battling Parkinson’s disease.

Within 50 years, the world has changed dramatically, with technology enabling humans to achieve remarkable feats previously unimaginable. Louis himself has transformed, and his reason for inviting Daniel to Dubai stems from his concealed and twisted narrative in the 1973 interview. He seeks to rectify this by conducting a new interview, one based on accurate details and the wealth of evidence he has gathered.

Following his father’s passing in 1910, Louis becomes the family’s breadwinner, responsible for caring for his mother Florence (Rae Dawn Chong), his troubled younger brother Paul (Steven G. Norfleet) , and his soon-to-be-married sister Grace (Kalyne Coleman) .

Louis first encounters the mysterious and handsome Frenchman Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) in a New Orleans’ brothel where Lestat engages in a playful bidding war for Miss Lily (Najah Bradley), a prostitute Louis frequents. But it is actually Louis who truly captivates him. They quickly become friends after Lestat uses his vampiric abilities to secure Louis’s victory in a poker game marred by racist insults from the other white players.

A series of unfortunate events unexpectedly strikes Louis’s life, starting with the death of his younger brother, leading to a broken family. His mother, accusing him of running a sinful brothel business that was responsible for Paul’s demise, fueling his guilt for being unable to save his brother. Devastated by grief and frustrated by the haunting voice of Lestat in his head, Louis becomes convinced he might be possessed. Lestat offers Louis an escape from the troubles of his mortal life. Eventually, succumbing to the allure of immortality and the promise of leaving his troubles behind, Louis allows Lestat to make him a vampire.

INTERVIEW with the VAMPIRE series is well-executed with a compelling narrative. In a significant departure from the novel, the series portrays Louis as a Black man instead of a white man. This casting choice, with the talented British actor Jacob Anderson (known for his roles in Game of Thrones and as musician Raleigh Ritchie), allows viewers to experience the weight of societal inequality faced by Louis throughout his life. We witness firsthand the obstacles he must overcome, igniting a strong sense of rooting for his success. The series also delves deeper by showcasing Louis’s family, previously absent in film adaptation.

I truly love Lestat’s dialogue in this series, both English and French which I find more beautiful and sophisticated than Tom Cruise’s film version. In the novel, Louis was also born in France, but emigrated to New Orleans with his family when he was young. I’m also quite impressed by Lestat’s special power which grants him superhuman speed, making it seem like time slows down around him, similar to Dio Brando’s time-stopping ability in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Furthermore, Lestat also possesses levitation ability. The series also clearly depicts love scenes between Louis and Lestat, eliminating the need for interpretation of their relationship. In contrast, the 1994 film adaptation intentionally left their relationship on an ambiguous note.

In the series, Claudia is aged up to 14 (from 5 in the novel) due to violence and gore, as well as limitations on child actor work hours. This allows her portrayal to be more savage and ruthless. The storytelling itself is engaging, weaving mystery, detective thriller, family drama, horror, and unexpected plot twists.

On 29 September 2022, AMC Networks announced the renewal of Anne Rice’s INTERVIEW with the VAMPIRE for a second season, ahead of the new series’ debut on AMC and AMC+.

INTERVIEW with the VAMPIRE premiered on AMC on 2 October with an advance release on 29 September for AMC+ subscribers.

Season 2 will premiere on 12 May 2024.