Lestat’s rock star era is officially here. Two years and a title change later, the third season of Interview with the Vampire, now rebranded as The Vampire Lestat in honor of the second novel in Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles series, is almost upon us, and if the trailer is anything to go by, it’s going to be a suitably wild ride.
Featuring star Sam Reid in all his David Bowie-esque glory, the vibes, unsurprisingly, are immaculate. Where the Louis-focused Interview with the Vampire reflected that character’s more somber, melancholy, and frequently guilt-ridden approach to telling his own story, Lestat’s take on things is all bold colors, stylized graphics, and a booming soundtrack, featuring Reid himself performing a banging cover of Billy Idol’s “Dancing with Myself”. A genuinely perfect choice given how so much of this season will inevitably be about Lestat on his own, attempting to correct the record presented in Daniel Molloy’s infamous book and offering differing perspectives on some of the events from the show’s previous seasons.
Much like the titular vampire himself, The Vampire Lestat’s trailer covers up a multitude of sins and traumas with flashing lights, arresting costumes, and screaming fangirls. But this tour isn’t going to be for the faint of heart. The novel not only recounts his life as a mortal and his early years as a vampire, but it also introduces a half dozen major characters from his past, including Gabrielle, Magnus, Marius, Nicolas, and Those Who Must Be Kept, whose shadows loom large over Lestat’s past and present.
There’s a surprisingly small amount of footage we haven’t seen before in this clip, which is primarily focused on Lestat’s rock star persona. But there are some fun hints of things to come: a quick glimpse of Lestat (probably as a human) in eighteenth-century France, what appears to be his abduction by Magnus before being turned, and the appearance of Queen of the Damned’s Baby Jenks in the present day. There is also, of course, an appearance by Lestat’s mother, Gabriella (Gabrielle in the book, but let’s go with it), who has a very… let’s just call it complicated relationship with her son.
In Rice’s novel, Gabriella always had a particular affection for Lestat, her youngest child, whom she considered to be the most like her, rather than her cruel husband. She helps Lestat flee to Paris as a young man, he eventually turns her when she’s dying of consumption, and things take a turn for the blatantly incestuous between them. The trailer shows the pair about to kiss, which is scandalous enough (though book-accurate) in and of itself. But because the TV universe has established that — unlike in the books — vampires can and do have sex, there’s every possibility that The Vampire Lestat will take things even further with this particular relationship.
Undoubtedly, there will be a lot to unpack when the series hits our screens this June.
The Vampire Lestat will premiere June 7 on AMC and AMC+.
