In Interview with the Vampire, Daniel and Louis found themselves very much on the same side of their exploration of Louis’ psyche. Throughout the first two seasons of the series, the bond between them expanded and evolved, leaping to new heights when they discovered Armand had erased and changed both their memories of their first meeting in San Francisco and crescendoing in the finale of Interview with the Vampire season two, when Daniel helps Louis understand the truth of what happened to him and his daughter Claudia in Paris. But in The Vampire Lestat, different obstacles puncture the balloon of this friendship. Daniel publishes the Interview with the Vampire book without Louis’ approval, he surprises him with the Talamasca, and eventually helps Armand lop off Louis and Lestat’s heads. Bad friend behavior! At times, both vampires seem to want to retain their friendship with one another, but it feels totally on the rocks by the end of The Vampire Lestat. Of course, some of that might be due to Lestat’s telling of the tale. But when we spoke to Jacob Anderson after the finale of The Vampire Lestat, he shared that he feels Daniel and Louis do not have much trust in one another right now.
Anderson noted, “I don’t know,” when initially asked about the state of things between Daniel and Louis at the end of this season of The Vampire Lestat. “We don’t really go there in the second part of the season. I think it’s a weird move from Daniel. There are a lot of weird moves from Daniel towards Louis. I’m not really sure. I feel like Louis takes one for Lestat at the end. Louis picks on Daniel a bit at the dinner, but yeah, where they’re at now is complicated.” Anderson concludes, “By the end of the season… I think… now Louis’ pissed at Daniel. I don’t think there’s much chance of trust.”
And yeah, we can’t really blame Louis for that. We, too, felt that publishing the book without telling Louis and, on top of that, inviting the Talamasca to their reconciliation dinner was lousy and strange behavior from Daniel in The Vampire Lestat. It, of course, won’t be very helpful that Daniel appears to now firmly be Team Armand, perhaps even his companion. There’s a hint in The Vampire Lestat episode six that Daniel feels betrayed by Louis knowing that Armand had been observing and interfering in his life for half a century, which Jacob Anderson acknowledges Louis did know, but it’s not yet completely articulated. Regardless, assisting in Louis’ decapitation makes it a bit of a moot point, even if Daniel seems to be more annoyed with Lestat.
But we hope there’s more to the story between Louis and Daniel. In Interview with the Vampire season two, Daniel realizes that Louis’ final words to him in San Francisco have been with him his entire life, “You’re not inconsequential or a junkie. You’re a bright young reporter with a point of view. If things ever get bad again, these are the words you’ll hear in your mind like a tape playing over and over. Like a song stuck in your brain. These words will hold you up and carry you. They are your lifeline.” And then Daniel gets incredibly emotional over the idea that Louis gave him this refrain, and these words did, indeed, allow him to survive even when his life was at its worst. It’s a beautiful revelation and a tender moment between them.
Conversely, Daniel goes to great lengths to help Louis unravel his memories of what really happened to him in Paris and the truth about his relationship with Armand. And this clarity is one that Louis would likely never have obtained without Daniel’s presence and stubborn determination to seek the truth. With these revelations in hand, Louis is finally able to pull himself out of the stupor he’d lived in for many years, allowing him to consider reconciliation with Lestat and to put his life back into his own hands. It’s no small thing that Daniel was able to offer him.
These gifts to one another in Interview with the Vampire are bonds that tie Louis and Daniel together at the core. Hopefully, in the future of The Vampire Lestat, the pair of them can build that trust back with one another. We know we’d feel sad if they couldn’t ever get their friendship back on track.
The Vampire Lestat is now streaming on AMC and AMC+. If you’d like more insights into the season, you can also pick up The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice for your reading pleasure.
Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. She’s a Devil’s Minion gal at heart, but always has some room for the Diabolicule—yes, that’s Daniel/Armand/Louis/Lestat. It’s immortality, baby. Think big.
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