The Vampire Lestat, the sequel series to AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, ended as it began — with chaos and rock n’ roll. And its titular hero, played by Sam Reid, shouldered all of that chaos mostly alone. In the finale, “The Failures,” a beheaded Lestat, in his seemingly final moments on Earth, must confront a banquet table of his loved ones from across the centuries, who have come to judge him one last time. And things get heavy. And we don’t just mean heavy as in Lestat’s head was stuck in a bowling ball bag most of the episode. (But it was). We had the privilege of speaking with Sam Reid on the eve of Lestat’s grand finale. Here’s what Reid had to say about his journey through The Vampire Lestat.
Nerdist: In this last episode, we see Lestat as he embarks on what he thinks are his final hours, trapped in his own mind, and we see him facing all the ghosts of his past. They are all present, at a long dinner table, judging him and throwing his failures in his face. And the one person who actually sticks up for him at that dinner table several times is his mother, Gabriella. Do you think this symbolizes that no matter what she does to him, Lestat will always place his mother on a pedestal?
Sam Reid: Oh, I don’t know. Does she stick up for him? How does she stick up for him at the dinner table? [laughs]
For example, when Nicholas (Joseph Potter) said, “You never loved me, ” to Lestat, and she said, “Yes, he did. He said it all the time.” There were a couple of moments where she’d kind of pepper in comments, seemingly defending him at the table when everyone else was hostile.
Sam Reid: I see what you mean. Whether or not she’s sticking up for him, or whether or not that is her way of mothering him, and then inviting him to ask her to take over the long table as the leader, and him saying, “Actually, I would rather my mom do it. I think my mom’s a better person than [Lestat’s creator] Magnus to be the leader of my table.” And then that leads to a total exposure of how she has manipulated him throughout his entire life, and how she has led to a fundamental existential crisis throughout his entire existence. A crisis that he then relives at the table. And then she proceeds to continually tell him, from that moment on, all the reasons why he has failed in his life.
I think actually what Lestat learns from the long table is that she has manipulated him for a very long time, and that she should no longer have that level of control over his life. And that actually she is a monster, and then all the things that he feels himself about being a monster might be a reflection of her own monstrosity. Look, he acknowledges that he has to accept guilt and failure because you can’t just be a victim. You have your own agency, which he has in spades. But yeah, I think actually the long table allows him to finally see things from a better perspective and step away.
The Vampire Lestat teased it all season, but we finally see the flashback to Lestat as a child seeing the local villagers burn the witches. Gabriella took him to it so he would leave his ignorant village behind, but he stayed until he was 29. Do you see this as the core traumatizing incident of his mortal life?
Sam Reid: Yeah. I think this is the moment. Look, in episode three, he puts it all onto Nicki. He says he can’t acknowledge his own level of existential crisis in that moment. So he gives it to Nicki, which is actually the experience that he wants. So he says that, “I saw in that moment, that in death there was nothing. It was a nothingness.” And then his mouth formed a perfect circle, and he just made one sound, which is ‘oh.’” And then you see Lestat make that ‘oh’ sound, during that existential crisis, once he reconnects with the memory of the young women dying.
And that has been his entire trajectory throughout his life, his running from death, and running from meaninglessness, taking on anybody else’s attempt to reform him, and taking on any other attempt to create a different persona that he can have. So yeah, that’s a core-defining memory for Lestat to be hit with, and one that he never manages to get out of now. I think maybe from now on, he might see things slightly differently, but yeah, it’s very fundamental to his existence.
Lestat and Louis (Jacob Anderson) started the season in their “divorce era,” but by the end, the two were drawn back together. And Louis admits to Armand that Lestat was the true love of his life. Do you think these two really are an endgame couple?
Sam Reid: Of course. Yeah. I think you’ve got to remember that Lestat’s been pushing Louis to say, “I love you, “or to be more forthcoming. And he also learns from [Louis’ dead brother] Paul, or from his vision of Paul, he understands why Louis cannot be so forthcoming with his love. Because the last person Louis told he loved committed suicide, and he saw that happen. Louis saw that happen. So I think Lestat has a better understanding of Louis now. But yeah, of course, they’re the endgame couple. And going through their trials and tribulations, they’re in a better place now. And it’s a very interesting place to start, if we go on to start another season. Because now I think they are probably as together as they’re ever going to be. But what makes a good TV show is what keeps them apart from one another.
I think your best scene this season is Lestat’s final performance for all his victims, near the climax of the finale. And how Lestat refuses to be anything but in his own words, “pretty fucking great.” Do you feel that scene really sums up who Lestat really is at his core? Someone who refuses to be anything but very good at being bad?
Sam Reid: Yes. I think that is the fundamental core of Lestat, which is that no matter how many walls he hits, no matter how many traumatic events happen to him, he’s still always going to be crawling out of the burning rubble, brushing off his shoulders, and keep going. But he says that, “I was pretty fucking great. Even if I failed, even if I significantly fail in my life, at least I tried. At least I’m trying to do something different. At least I am actively trying to get out of this.” But he says that, and then he fails. That does not save him.
And so I think he actually remembers multiple things happening in that speech, but after he says that, he remembers that there was a moment of love with Louis. And then his life flashes in front of his eyes, and he cannot structure a correct sentence. Even in his final death moment, he’s tripped up on grammar. And he can’t really win. And he really isn’t “that fucking great” in the end. He’s not. But he is loved regardless. He is loved. And to find out that he is loved by Louis, I think, allows him to have some closure. It allows him to accept death. Because that love, that’s the one thing that he’s wanted.
The final scene was a shocker, as Lestat looks out and what appears a decimated Montreal. Book readers know what that means. But it’s clear the show is going even bigger than the book when it comes to destruction. What are you most excited about in a possible fourth season?
Sam Reid: What I am most excited about an possible fourth season is Sheila Atim and what she would do with the role of Akasha. I mean, Sheila, I’ve known her for many years. She’s an extraordinary actor. I think everyone knows that now just from her one amazing scene in episode five. And just working with her more, she’s amazing. She has always been amazing, and I can’t wait to see what she might bring. So I hope we do get the renewal for that alone.
All episodes of The Vampire Lestat are streaming now on AMC+