In The Vampire Lestat, we get new perspectives on characters and moments that we saw before in Interview with the Vampire through a different lens. One of these characters in The Vampire Lestat is Nicholas de Lenfent, Lestat’s first and/or great love, depending on who you ask. In The Vampire Lestat episode three, we walk the paths of Nicki and Lestat’s relationship and its ultimate tragedy to incredible impact. The telling of Nicki’s tale is equal parts captivating and harrowing, and played to perfection by Joseph Potter. In the wake of Nicki’s important story on The Vampire Lestat, we sat down with Potter to discuss Nicki’s pure heart, great jealousy, difficult life, intense undeath, and heartbreaking actual death.
Nerdist: So you’ve played three versions of Nicki now. Armand’s Nicki in seasons one and two, Lestat’s Nicki, and the Nicki hallucination that Lestat has in the modern day. What do you feel is different about each one of them, and what do you think gets closest to the truth of Nicki?
It’s interesting, isn’t it? In the playing of him, I try and not to overthink too much the levels of the difference between them. I try to have the book as my reference point and try to stay fairly truthful to that. And just the way in which it’s written is leading, I don’t know, the way in which it’s perceived. I think my favorite one to play has definitely been Lestat’s Nicki. And I feel like that’s closer to my perception of what truth is, but that feels like it’s constantly changing and being challenged in this show, which I think is really, really good.
Do you think any of the perspectives we’ve seen of Nicki have been wrong?
I mean, I think Armand’s in season two; his version definitely lessens that kind of narrative about the importance of Nikki’s and Lestat’s relationship, I think.
That makes a lot of sense. That is the Armand way.
Yeah. Cheeky Gremlin.
Lestat calls Nicki his great love at times, but also alternately dismisses him as just his first love. In your mind, what place do you really feel Nicholas held in Lestat’s heart?
I think he’s an important love. He’s a great love in the context of how he informs the rest of Lestat’s relationships and how he carries him through in our season and through the rest of the books. I think that first love, I mean, we’ve all had it, and it can sometimes be a bit of a train wreck, but the way in which you hold that and the lessons that you’ve learned from that relationship and carry it through matter.
I feel like the way in which his and Louis’ relationship is informed by the tragedy of Lestat and Nicki’s relationship is really important, and there’s a semi-mirroring going on there, and obviously, some of their relationship, Louis and Lestat’s relationship is fairly tumultuous, but probably it ends in a better way than mine.
How do you feel Nicki’s relationship with Lestat informs his relationship with Louis?
I feel like the lessons… I mean, the first mistake he makes in a way is of taking Nicki into eternity or trying to anyway. And I think his decision, when Lestat turns Louis, he has to be so sure that that is the right decision because he’s made that mistake before. And ultimately, Nicki’s demons: even when he’s in Auvergne, I think, in the book before we see him in Paris, he’s carrying something, but he’s not fully honest with Lestat about that pain or that jealousy, or what’s festering inside him. And then it comes out, and Lestat’s turning of Nikki is almost more of a guilt because of the deception and the dishonesty. It’s, “I’ll give this to you because I wronged you. ” Whereas with Louis, it’s I’m giving this to you because I know that you are capable of this, and I’m sure of that decision.
Though he turns Claudia… Which doesn’t end necessarily well. But we’re allowed to make mistakes. Even vampires make mistakes.
In the novel, Armand chops off Nikki’s hands, but in The Vampire Lestat series, he does it to himself in the grip of madness. Why do you think that change was made by the writers, and how do you think it changes your character in the series?
I never asked Rolin and Hannah about that, but I think there’s a level of just increasing the pain of it. And also if Nicki does it to himself, one, I think there’s something I had to … Obviously, he’s manic, but in playing that, you have to find a sense of it in the madness. You can’t just play mad. So I think there’s something about the betrayal he sometimes feels: the best way to hurt someone you love is to hurt yourself. And I think there’s a little bit of that going on, but also then the pain of his death and that loss is, I think it’s more on Lestat if Nicki does it to himself rather than it being someone else… It actually, I don’t know if this would be the right word, but it implies more blame on Lestat, which kind of explains why he carries it with him with him for longer.
Rather than blaming it on the naughty Armand.
But who knows? Is it real? Is any of it? Well, that’s the question. This is what I’m still asking.
Conversely, in the books, Nicki brings himself into the fire, but Lestat tells Daniel that Armand pushes him in and makes sure he stays there in The Vampire Lestat version. What do you think of that change?
We didn’t see it. We don’t see it. So, who knows? Who knows?
I mean, the image of that when I read it in the script, I was like, “Gosh, that’s pretty horrendous.” And then the last kind of line that I have, or the last thing that he says, is, “Forgive me. ” And if he’s being held there, is he ready to go? Does he want to go?
There’s a sobering after the hand’s gone because I feel like his hands and the music have driven him to a point. That was his way of expression, and that’s what drove it. The music’s so mad in his head, and once the hand’s gone, that kind of noise goes, and there’s a sobering. And if he’s being held there, then there’s a level of… And then Lestat says, actually, in that scene, that he realized that it was just nothingness and that kind of knowing that after all of this, there’s just nothing is immense.
I think that Rolin, Hannah, and the whole team do such a good job of keeping the nature of the books, but just extending it and making it more painful, which you wouldn’t even know if that was possible, but they do it.
And there’s something about not seeing it as well, and the way that Sam Reid delivers that is just so incredible. Oh my gosh, it’s amazing.
Yeah, it’s a harrowing scene. But as you mentioned, we don’t actually see it happen, even though we hear Lestat’s detailed account. So do you believe there’s more to the moment or that we might revisit it in the future?
I mean, I’d love to revisit it. I’m always up for revisiting anything. I mean, such a privilege to play this part with this amazing team of actors and creatives. But yeah, there’s a lot of history between Armand and Nicki that I’m really intrigued by that we haven’t necessarily seen too much of there.
Yes. Tell me, what do you think Nicki thinks of Armand?
Without sounding too strange, I was always fascinated by when Lestat goes away in the book, and Nicki’s just left with Armand in the theater. That dynamic is… I’m really fascinated by that. And that kind of power dynamic at play between them, with Armand in control. I think it’s a fascinating place. I mean, you don’t know what’s going on there. I mean, I’d be intrigued.
Why do you think Nicholas wanted to become a vampire so badly? And what was it about vampirism that ultimately harmed him so much?
I think he feels profoundly wronged, and he’s had such a hard life and has been quite unlucky. And I think in my head, he had a very tumultuous, toxic relationship with his father, that he almost believes that goodness doesn’t exist, and that then the realization that vampirism and this thing exists is then a proof that evil does exist. And so then it does explain everything that’s gone wrong in his life, why it has. And then he feels like Lestat isn’t using that gift the way it should be, that kind of power.
I mean, everything he says in the book is so reflective of that. They’re two different sides of the coin. Lestat has this light and Nicki has this horrible kind of darkness. And I think he’s infected with jealousy. So anything that Lestat has, he wants, and it just feels a betrayal. I think he loves him ultimately. And if he feels like he can get that vampirism, that might keep him closer to this light. I don’t know if I’ve said two things there that contradict utterly what they said, but—But this is why it’s so rich. Do you know what I mean?
Nicki is the person who brings music into Lestat’s life, and ultimately, music is the way Lestat chooses to tell his story. Do you feel like that makes Nikki’s presence interwoven into Lestat’s whole journey in The Vampire Lestat?
I think so. Yeah. The first line we have before we first see them is, “I heard music.” And then that’s the journey that he goes on too… The stutter disappears. For Nicki, music is pure expression, and I think that’s exactly what it is for Lestat, too. So maybe that line of “First love, not great love” is deceptive. But that’s a step one lesson. It’s so clever how he’s interwoven throughout the story. He’s a presence throughout.
You spoke about turning to the books to form your Nicki in The Vampire Lestat. Were there any moments from the books that haven’t yet been brought to the screen that you’d love to bring to life?
I mean, there are so many. Oh gosh, I mean, we get it. We get a little bit of it with the… When we see them in the theater, and he says, “I’ll give you the Theater of the Vampires.” But I love that in the book, I love when all the vampires come in and they start dancing. That’s amazing.
There’s also a really tender moment with Gabriella, I can’t remember what chapter it’s in, or Gabrielle. And there’s a kind of tenderness between them, and he’s catatonic, and I think she’s doing his hair or just dressing him, and Lestat says he looks like, I can’t remember what the exact quote was, but “He looks like a young priest” or something like that. It’s quite interesting the way when he’s chopping off the hand, and Jennifer’s laughing at me, or Gabriella’s embarrassed, or like, “What’s going on here?”
There’s something about it where you’re like, “Oh, is that a reliable narrator on different relationships with different characters with Armand, with Gabrielle.” And there’s so much. I mean, I’d love to revisit anything.
And just to conclude, as we end our time, of course, you’ve brought so much from the books, but do you think there’s anything that you brought to Nicki in The Vampire Lestat? Anything where you thought, “I’m going to add this to this character in this way”?
Yeah, I mean, I think the game that you are always trying to play is what’s similar and what’s different. I feel like Nicki has a real, despite his madness, it’s all done through this open heart of love. And so I always try and sympathize with him. So I feel like I try to bring that kind of semi-openheartedness of myself even in his mania. I mean, I like playing tragic young men, and I seem to do it quite a lot. So he was another one, but it was just with a French accent this time.
The Vampire Lestat airs on AMC and AMC+, Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT and midnight, respectively. You can snag The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice to read, if you’d like to know a little bit more about what’s going on.
Rotem Rusak is the Editor-in-Chief of Nerdist. Devil’s Minon is her endgame in The Vampire Lestat, but she’s never opposed to other ships on the side—Nicki and Armand, why not?
This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!