Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles
Encyclopedia
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is a 1994 American drama
and horror film
directed by Neil Jordan
, based on the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire
by Anne Rice
. The film focuses on Lestat
and Louis
, beginning with Louis'
transformation into a vampire by Lestat in 1791. The film chronicles their time together, and their turning of a twelve year old Creole
girl, Claudia
, into a vampire. The narrative is framed by a present day interview, in which Louis tells his story to a San Francisco reporter.
The film stars Tom Cruise
, Brad Pitt
, and Kirsten Dunst
, with Antonio Banderas
and Stephen Rea
co-starring. The film was released in November 1994 to generally positive critical acclaim, and received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction
and Best Original Score
. Kirsten Dunst was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.
(Christian Slater
) interviews Louis de Pointe du Lac
(Brad Pitt
), who claims to be a vampire
and tells the story of his past.
Louis' story begins in Louisiana
in 1791, when he was 24 and suffering from a death wish after the loss of his wife and infant child. The vampire Lestat
(Tom Cruise
) offers him a chance to be reborn and proceeds to turn him into a vampire. Lestat teaches Louis how to live as a vampire. At first, Louis rebels against hurting humans, drinking animal blood instead. He finally succumbs and kills his faithful house slave. He tries to kill himself by setting fire to his house, but Lestat rescues him and they flee.
In New Orleans, Louis is wandering the streets amidst an outbreak of plague. He finds a plague-ridden girl in a house with her dead mother. He bites the young girl, Claudia
(Kirsten Dunst
), whom Lestat later transforms into a vampire "daughter", to discourage Louis from leaving him. Lestat begins to teach Claudia how to live like a vampire, making her copy his actions, as to killing. As thirty years pass, Claudia becomes a sadistic killer and closely bonded to Louis and Lestat. But when she realizes that she will live forever and never grow up, she becomes furious with Lestat. She tricks him into drinking the blood of the corpses of twin
boys, whom she killed by overdosing them with laudanum, with the knowledge that the blood from the body of a creature already dead is fatal to vampires. This weakens him and she then slits his throat. Claudia and Louis dump Lestat's body in a swamp but he later returns, having drained the blood of swamp creatures to survive. Lestat attacks them but Louis sets him on fire and flees to Paris
with Claudia, assuming Lestat is dead.
In 1870 Paris, Louis and Claudia live in perfect harmony but Louis is still bothered by the question of how vampires came to be and if there are any other vampires on earth. One night, while walking the streets, he meets vampires Santiago
(Stephen Rea
) and Armand (Antonio Banderas
), who tell him that there are other vampires in Paris and that he knows the answers Louis has been searching for. Armand invites Louis and Claudia to his coven, the Théâtre des Vampires
, where they witness Armand and his coven dispatching a terrified human woman before an unsuspecting human audience. Armand later takes them to his lair and offers Louis a place by his side, while secretly telling Claudia to leave him. Louis refuses to leave his beloved Claudia, however, and leaves the lair. As he does, Santiago warns him that his vampire coven knows about Lestat's murder and that it is forbidden for vampires to kill another vampire. Louis returns alone to Armand's lair, where Armand proceeds to reveal that Louis is a unique vampire as he possesses a human soul and is connected to the "broken-hearted" spirit of the 19th Century. Louis becomes thoroughly smitten by Armand and resolves to leave Claudia at long last.
Returning to his residence, Louis finds that Claudia has brought home a human woman, Madeleine, with the intent that Louis turn her into a vampire to serve as a companion and protector before he leaves. Louis reluctantly gives in and transforms Madeleine, forcing Claudia to admit that they are now even and can part on good terms. Immediately after, however, the Parisian vampires burst in and abduct all three of them. As punishment for Lestat's murder, they imprison Louis in a metal coffin and lock Claudia and Madeleine into an airshaft with an open roof. The next morning, the rising sun floods the airshaft and Claudia and Madeleine turn to ash. Armand frees Louis, who searches for Claudia and is horrified and grief-stricken when he comes across her ashen remains. He returns that night to the Theatre and seeks revenge for Claudia by burning all the vampires alive in their own theatre as they sleep and bisects Santiago with a scythe
. Armand arrives in time to help him escape, and once again offers him a place by his side. Louis once again refuses, knowing that Armand choreographed Claudia's demise in an attempt to get Louis all to himself, and he leaves Armand for good.
As decades pass, Louis explores the world alone, still grieving for Claudia, before returning to the United States. He is seen and heard telling how he saw "the sun rise for the first time in 200 years", in a movie theatre, watching Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Nosferatu, Gone with the Wind
and Superman. He returns to New Orleans in 1988 and finds Lestat, still alive but a mere shadow of his former self. Louis unwittingly gives Lestat some insight about modern technology; Lestat asks Louis to rejoin him, but Louis rejects him and leaves.
At this point Louis concludes the interview, which Malloy, the interviewer, cannot accept. He asks Louis to transform him so he can see what it is truly like to be a vampire, but Louis throttles him in a fit of rage and vanishes. Malloy hurriedly runs to his car and drives away, feeling happy with his interview as he plays it through the cassette player. Just then, Lestat appears, attacking him and taking control of the car. Revived by Malloy's blood, he then offers a dying Malloy "the choice [he] never had" as they drive off into the San Francisco night, taking out the cassette and turning on the radio, which is playing Guns N' Roses
cover of the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil
".
Julian Sands
was considered to play the role of Lestat by Rice herself; but, because Sands was not a known name, being only famed for his performance in A Room with a View
, he was rejected and the role was given to Tom Cruise
. This was initially criticized by Anne Rice, who said that Cruise was "no more my vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler" and the casting was "so bizarre; it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work". Nevertheless, she was satisfied with Cruise's performance after seeing the completed film, saying that "from the moment he appeared, Tom was Lestat for me" and "that Tom did make Lestat work was something I could not see in a crystal ball". In fact, after she saw the premiere of the movie, she wrote a letter of apology to Tom Cruise and commended his performance.
Originally, River Phoenix
was cast for the role of Daniel (as Anne Rice liked the idea), but he died four weeks before he was due to begin filming. When Christian Slater
was cast in his place as Daniel, he donated his entire salary to Phoenix's favorite charitable organizations. The film has a dedication to Phoenix after the end credits.
and The Santa Clause
. Total gross in the United States was $105 million, while the total including international gross was $224 million, with an estimated budget of $60 million.
The film received mixed to positive reviews among film critics. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
reports the film as holding an overall 60% "Fresh" approval rating based on 47 reviews, with a rating average of 5.9 out of 10. Praise from The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
and the Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
was tempered by poor reviews in The Washington Post and Time magazine.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards
- for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Dante Ferretti
, Francesca Lo Schiavo
) and for Best Original Score, but lost to The Madness of King George
and The Lion King
, respectively.
, the third book in the series, was produced and distributed once again by Warner Bros.. Tom Cruise
and Brad Pitt
did not reprise their roles as Lestat and Louis. Many characters were also written out of the film as well as much important storyline and the film itself was a combination of The Vampire Lestat
and The Queen of the Damned. The film was negatively received by critics and with Anne Rice dismissing it completely as she felt the film had 'mutliated' her work. During pre-production, Rice had pleaded with the studio not to produce a film on the book just yet as she believed her readers wanted a film based on the second book in the series, The Vampire Lestat
. Rice was refused the cooperation of the studio.
In August of 2009, rumors had surfaced that Robert Downey Jr.
was to take on the role of Lestat de Lioncourt
in Universal Studios
planned reboot of The Vampire Chronicles. This turned out to be false.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
and horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Neil Jordan
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.- Early life :...
, based on the 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire is a vampire novel by Anne Rice written in 1973 and published in 1976. It was the first novel to feature the enigmatic vampire Lestat, and was followed by several sequels, collectively known as The Vampire Chronicles...
by Anne Rice
Anne Rice
Anne Rice is a best-selling Southern American author of metaphysical gothic fiction, Christian literature and erotica from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history...
. The film focuses on Lestat
Lestat de Lioncourt
Lestat de Lioncourt is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Vampire Lestat. He is a vampire and the main character in the majority of The Vampire Chronicles, narrated in first person.-Publication history:...
and Louis
Louis de Pointe du Lac
Louis de Pointe du Lac is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. He began his life as a mortal man, and later became a vampire. He is the protagonist and antihero of Interview with the Vampire, the first book of The Vampire Chronicles...
, beginning with Louis'
Louis de Pointe du Lac
Louis de Pointe du Lac is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. He began his life as a mortal man, and later became a vampire. He is the protagonist and antihero of Interview with the Vampire, the first book of The Vampire Chronicles...
transformation into a vampire by Lestat in 1791. The film chronicles their time together, and their turning of a twelve year old Creole
Creole
- Languages :A Creole language is a stable, full-fledged language that originated from a pidgin or combination of other languages.Creole languages subgroups may include:* Arabic-based creole languages* Dutch-based creole languages...
girl, Claudia
Claudia (The Vampire Chronicles)
Claudia is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. She is one of the main characters in Interview with the Vampire, the first novel in the series...
, into a vampire. The narrative is framed by a present day interview, in which Louis tells his story to a San Francisco reporter.
The film stars Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
, Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, and Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
, with Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
and Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
co-starring. The film was released in November 1994 to generally positive critical acclaim, and received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
and Best Original Score
Academy Award for Best Original Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
. Kirsten Dunst was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.
Plot
In modern-day San Francisco, reporter Daniel MolloyDaniel Molloy
Daniel Molloy is a fictional character in the Vampire Chronicles universe created by Anne Rice. He first appeared in the novel Interview with the Vampire, but also makes appearances in The Queen of the Damned, and briefly in Blood and Gold....
(Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
) interviews Louis de Pointe du Lac
Louis de Pointe du Lac
Louis de Pointe du Lac is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. He began his life as a mortal man, and later became a vampire. He is the protagonist and antihero of Interview with the Vampire, the first book of The Vampire Chronicles...
(Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
), who claims to be a vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
and tells the story of his past.
Louis' story begins in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
in 1791, when he was 24 and suffering from a death wish after the loss of his wife and infant child. The vampire Lestat
Lestat de Lioncourt
Lestat de Lioncourt is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Vampire Lestat. He is a vampire and the main character in the majority of The Vampire Chronicles, narrated in first person.-Publication history:...
(Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
) offers him a chance to be reborn and proceeds to turn him into a vampire. Lestat teaches Louis how to live as a vampire. At first, Louis rebels against hurting humans, drinking animal blood instead. He finally succumbs and kills his faithful house slave. He tries to kill himself by setting fire to his house, but Lestat rescues him and they flee.
In New Orleans, Louis is wandering the streets amidst an outbreak of plague. He finds a plague-ridden girl in a house with her dead mother. He bites the young girl, Claudia
Claudia (The Vampire Chronicles)
Claudia is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. She is one of the main characters in Interview with the Vampire, the first novel in the series...
(Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
), whom Lestat later transforms into a vampire "daughter", to discourage Louis from leaving him. Lestat begins to teach Claudia how to live like a vampire, making her copy his actions, as to killing. As thirty years pass, Claudia becomes a sadistic killer and closely bonded to Louis and Lestat. But when she realizes that she will live forever and never grow up, she becomes furious with Lestat. She tricks him into drinking the blood of the corpses of twin
Twin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
boys, whom she killed by overdosing them with laudanum, with the knowledge that the blood from the body of a creature already dead is fatal to vampires. This weakens him and she then slits his throat. Claudia and Louis dump Lestat's body in a swamp but he later returns, having drained the blood of swamp creatures to survive. Lestat attacks them but Louis sets him on fire and flees to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Claudia, assuming Lestat is dead.
In 1870 Paris, Louis and Claudia live in perfect harmony but Louis is still bothered by the question of how vampires came to be and if there are any other vampires on earth. One night, while walking the streets, he meets vampires Santiago
Santiago (The Vampire Chronicles)
Santiago is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series, specifically the novel Interview with the Vampire.Little history or background is given to this character in the novel; his role is primarily that of a European vampire who becomes an enemy of the main character, Louis...
(Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
) and Armand (Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
), who tell him that there are other vampires in Paris and that he knows the answers Louis has been searching for. Armand invites Louis and Claudia to his coven, the Théâtre des Vampires
Théâtre des Vampires
Théâtre des Vampires is the home of a Parisian vampire coven from the earlier books in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series, specifically Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat.-Interview with the Vampire:...
, where they witness Armand and his coven dispatching a terrified human woman before an unsuspecting human audience. Armand later takes them to his lair and offers Louis a place by his side, while secretly telling Claudia to leave him. Louis refuses to leave his beloved Claudia, however, and leaves the lair. As he does, Santiago warns him that his vampire coven knows about Lestat's murder and that it is forbidden for vampires to kill another vampire. Louis returns alone to Armand's lair, where Armand proceeds to reveal that Louis is a unique vampire as he possesses a human soul and is connected to the "broken-hearted" spirit of the 19th Century. Louis becomes thoroughly smitten by Armand and resolves to leave Claudia at long last.
Returning to his residence, Louis finds that Claudia has brought home a human woman, Madeleine, with the intent that Louis turn her into a vampire to serve as a companion and protector before he leaves. Louis reluctantly gives in and transforms Madeleine, forcing Claudia to admit that they are now even and can part on good terms. Immediately after, however, the Parisian vampires burst in and abduct all three of them. As punishment for Lestat's murder, they imprison Louis in a metal coffin and lock Claudia and Madeleine into an airshaft with an open roof. The next morning, the rising sun floods the airshaft and Claudia and Madeleine turn to ash. Armand frees Louis, who searches for Claudia and is horrified and grief-stricken when he comes across her ashen remains. He returns that night to the Theatre and seeks revenge for Claudia by burning all the vampires alive in their own theatre as they sleep and bisects Santiago with a scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
. Armand arrives in time to help him escape, and once again offers him a place by his side. Louis once again refuses, knowing that Armand choreographed Claudia's demise in an attempt to get Louis all to himself, and he leaves Armand for good.
As decades pass, Louis explores the world alone, still grieving for Claudia, before returning to the United States. He is seen and heard telling how he saw "the sun rise for the first time in 200 years", in a movie theatre, watching Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, Nosferatu, Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
and Superman. He returns to New Orleans in 1988 and finds Lestat, still alive but a mere shadow of his former self. Louis unwittingly gives Lestat some insight about modern technology; Lestat asks Louis to rejoin him, but Louis rejects him and leaves.
At this point Louis concludes the interview, which Malloy, the interviewer, cannot accept. He asks Louis to transform him so he can see what it is truly like to be a vampire, but Louis throttles him in a fit of rage and vanishes. Malloy hurriedly runs to his car and drives away, feeling happy with his interview as he plays it through the cassette player. Just then, Lestat appears, attacking him and taking control of the car. Revived by Malloy's blood, he then offers a dying Malloy "the choice [he] never had" as they drive off into the San Francisco night, taking out the cassette and turning on the radio, which is playing Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
cover of the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil
Sympathy for the Devil
"Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by The Rolling Stones which first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1968 album Beggars Banquet. It was written by Mick Jagger credited to Jagger/Richards...
".
Main
- Brad PittBrad PittWilliam Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
as Louis de Pointe du LacLouis de Pointe du LacLouis de Pointe du Lac is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. He began his life as a mortal man, and later became a vampire. He is the protagonist and antihero of Interview with the Vampire, the first book of The Vampire Chronicles... - Tom CruiseTom CruiseThomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
as Lestat de LioncourtLestat de LioncourtLestat de Lioncourt is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Vampire Lestat. He is a vampire and the main character in the majority of The Vampire Chronicles, narrated in first person.-Publication history:... - Kirsten DunstKirsten DunstKirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
as ClaudiaClaudia (The Vampire Chronicles)Claudia is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. She is one of the main characters in Interview with the Vampire, the first novel in the series... - Antonio BanderasAntonio BanderasJosé Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
as Armand - Christian SlaterChristian SlaterChristian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
as Daniel MolloyDaniel MolloyDaniel Molloy is a fictional character in the Vampire Chronicles universe created by Anne Rice. He first appeared in the novel Interview with the Vampire, but also makes appearances in The Queen of the Damned, and briefly in Blood and Gold.... - Stephen ReaStephen ReaStephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
as SantiagoSantiago (The Vampire Chronicles)Santiago is a fictional character in Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series, specifically the novel Interview with the Vampire.Little history or background is given to this character in the novel; his role is primarily that of a European vampire who becomes an enemy of the main character, Louis...
Supporting
- Domiziana GiordanoDomiziana GiordanoDomiziana Giordano is an artist, actress photographer and video artist. Domiziana has played the lead role in films directed by Nicholas Roeg, Jean Luc Godard, Andrei Tarkovsky, Mauro Bolognini, Neil Jordan, Ken McMullen and many others.She grew up in a family of artists and architects and...
as Madeleine - Virginia McCollam as Whore on Waterfront
- John McConnellJohn McConnell (actor)John "Spud" McConnell , is an American actor and radio personality based in New Orleans, Louisiana.McConnell is a character actor who has appeared in more than 40 films, ranging from obscure independent films to major cinematic release movies John "Spud" McConnell (born November 13, 1958), is an...
as Gambler - Mike Seelig as Pimp
- Bellina LoganBellina LoganBellina Logan is an African American television and film actress. She is known for her roles as Nurse Kit in ER and Janice Mayfield in the sitcom Daddio....
as Tavern Girl - Lyla Hay Owen as Widow St Clair
- Lee Emery as Widow's Lover
- Thandie NewtonThandie NewtonThandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
as Yvette - Indra OvéIndra Ové-Career:Her most notable appearance was in Interview with the Vampire, where she worked with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt portraying a New Orleans whore. She has also had a small role in The Fifth Element as a VIP Stewardess, Othello and had a small role in Resident Evil...
as New Orleans Whore - Helen McCroryHelen McCroryHelen Elizabeth McCrory is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both the 2006 film The Queen and the 2010 film The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films....
as 2nd Whore - Monte MontagueMonte MontagueMonte Montague was an American film actor. He appeared in over 190 films between 1920 and 1954.He was born in Somerset, Kentucky, and died in Burbank, California.-Selected filmography:* Elmo the Fearless...
as Plague Victim Bearer - Nathalie Bloch as Maid
- Jeanette Kontomitras as Woman in Square
- Roger Lloyd PackRoger Lloyd PackRoger Lloyd-Pack is an English actor known for his roles in the TV shows The Vicar of Dibley, Only Fools and Horses and The Old Guys.-Career:...
as Piano Teacher - George KellyGeorge Kelly-Writers, artists and performers:*George Kelly , American dramatist*George Kelly , American jazz tenor saxophonist, vocalist, arranger and bandleader...
as Dollmaker - Nicole DuBois as Creole Woman
- Micha Bergese as Paris Vampire
- Rory Edwards as Paris Vampire
- Marcel IureşMarcel IuresMarcel Iureş is a Romanian stage and screen actor.Iureş was born 2 August 1951 in Băileşti, Romania and is one of Romania's most acclaimed stage and film actors. Iureş entered the Institutul de Arta Teatrala si Cinematografica in Bucharest in 1974 and graduated in 1978...
as Paris Vampire - Susan LynchSusan LynchSusan Lynch is an actor from Northern Ireland.-Early life:Lynch was born in Corrinshego, Newry, County Armagh, Northern Ireland to an Italian mother and Irish father. Her brother is actor John Lynch, she has a sister, Pauline, who is a drama teacher at St...
as Paris Vampire - Louise Salter as Paris Vampire
- Matthew Sim as Paris Vampire
- Francois Testory as Paris Vampire
- Andrew TiernanAndrew TiernanAndrew James Tiernan is an English actor.-Theatre:Tiernan began acting with the Birmingham Youth Theatre and moved to London in 1984 to study a three-year Diploma in Acting at the Drama Centre London run by Christopher Fettes and Yat Malmgren...
as Paris Vampire - Simon Tyrrell as Paris Vampire
- George Yiasoumi as Paris Vampire
- Sara StockbridgeSara StockbridgeSara Stockbridge is an English model and actress who achieved a certain level of high fashion notoriety in the mid to late 1980s as the muse of designer Vivenne Westwood...
as Estelle - Laure Marsac as Mortal Woman on Stage
- Katia Caballero as Woman in Audience
- Louis Lewis-Smith as Mortal Boy
Casting
British actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Julian Sands
Julian Sands
Julian M. Sands is an English actor, known for his roles in the Best Picture nominee The Killing Fields, the cult film Warlock, A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, Vatel, the television series 24 and as Jor-El in the television series Smallville.-Career:Sands began his film career appearing in...
was considered to play the role of Lestat by Rice herself; but, because Sands was not a known name, being only famed for his performance in A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
, he was rejected and the role was given to Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
. This was initially criticized by Anne Rice, who said that Cruise was "no more my vampire Lestat than Edward G. Robinson is Rhett Butler" and the casting was "so bizarre; it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work". Nevertheless, she was satisfied with Cruise's performance after seeing the completed film, saying that "from the moment he appeared, Tom was Lestat for me" and "that Tom did make Lestat work was something I could not see in a crystal ball". In fact, after she saw the premiere of the movie, she wrote a letter of apology to Tom Cruise and commended his performance.
Originally, River Phoenix
River Phoenix
River Jude Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and teen icon. He was the oldest brother of fellow actors Rain, Joaquin, Liberty, and Summer Phoenix.Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials...
was cast for the role of Daniel (as Anne Rice liked the idea), but he died four weeks before he was due to begin filming. When Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
was cast in his place as Daniel, he donated his entire salary to Phoenix's favorite charitable organizations. The film has a dedication to Phoenix after the end credits.
Reception
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles opened on November 11, 1994. Opening weekend grosses amounted to $36.4m, placing it in the number one position at the US box office. In subsequent weeks it struggled against Star Trek: GenerationsStar Trek: Generations
Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. Generations is the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek television series and the first film in the series to star the cast of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.Parts of the film...
and The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause
The Santa Clause is a 1994 American fantasy-dramedy film directed by John Pasquin, it is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. and starring Tim Allen. In the film, Allen plays Scott Calvin, an ordinary man who accidentally causes Santa Claus to fall from his roof on Christmas Eve...
. Total gross in the United States was $105 million, while the total including international gross was $224 million, with an estimated budget of $60 million.
The film received mixed to positive reviews among film critics. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports the film as holding an overall 60% "Fresh" approval rating based on 47 reviews, with a rating average of 5.9 out of 10. Praise from The New York Times Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times...
and the Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
was tempered by poor reviews in The Washington Post and Time magazine.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Dante Ferretti
Dante Ferretti
Dante Ferretti is an Italian production designer, art director and costume designer for films.In his career, Ferretti has worked with many great directors, both American and Italian, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Franco Zeffirelli, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford...
, Francesca Lo Schiavo
Francesca Lo Schiavo
Francesca Lo Schiavo is an Italian set decorator.She has been nominated for an Academy Award seven times, winning twice, and is married to Dante Ferretti, a fellow art director...
) and for Best Original Score, but lost to The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George
The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...
and The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
, respectively.
Sequel
Almost a decade later after this film an adaptation for The Queen of the DamnedThe Queen of the Damned
The Queen of the Damned is the third novel of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles series. It follows Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat...
, the third book in the series, was produced and distributed once again by Warner Bros.. Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
and Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
did not reprise their roles as Lestat and Louis. Many characters were also written out of the film as well as much important storyline and the film itself was a combination of The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, and the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. Many events in the two books appear to contradict each other...
and The Queen of the Damned. The film was negatively received by critics and with Anne Rice dismissing it completely as she felt the film had 'mutliated' her work. During pre-production, Rice had pleaded with the studio not to produce a film on the book just yet as she believed her readers wanted a film based on the second book in the series, The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat is a novel by Anne Rice, and the second in her Vampire Chronicles, following Interview with the Vampire. Many events in the two books appear to contradict each other...
. Rice was refused the cooperation of the studio.
In August of 2009, rumors had surfaced that Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...
was to take on the role of Lestat de Lioncourt
Lestat de Lioncourt
Lestat de Lioncourt is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Vampire Lestat. He is a vampire and the main character in the majority of The Vampire Chronicles, narrated in first person.-Publication history:...
in Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
planned reboot of The Vampire Chronicles. This turned out to be false.