The Vampire Lestat has premiered its first episode on AMC, adapting Anne Rice’s second novel in her Vampire Chronicles series. This 1985 book truly made Lestat a star, elevating his undead status next to the likes of Dracula. Sam Reid reprises his role from Interview with the Vampire, with his backstory from the novel told largely in a non-linear fashion. So to help guide you through these tangled narrative vines, we present the undead rock star Lestat’s canonical history, as told by Anne Rice in The Vampire Lestat. We start with his birth in the 18th century and follow him until he meets Louis de Pointe du Lac in New Orleans.
The Mortal Life of Lestat de Lioncourt in 18th Century France
The mortal Lestat de Lioncourt was born on November 7, 1760. That’s the same birthday as Anne Rice’s husband Stan, who the character of Lestat is physically based on. (Louis shares Anne’s birthday of October 4.) He was born the son of an aristocratic lord in the French countryside, in a place called the Auvergne. His family long ago had spent all their wealth. Lestat’s father was a cruel tyrant who married a much younger heiress from Italy named Gabrielle. She gave birth to several sons for him, many of whom died in childbirth. The youngest, and the only one who took after her (and not his father), was Lestat.
Lestat aspired to be an artist and actor, completely different from his boorish brothers. Thus, he maintained a close relationship with his mother. When he grew to adulthood, he became the family hunter, protecting their ancestral lands. One day, when he was 21 years old (29 in the TV series), he saved the nearby village from a pack of eight wolves, who very nearly killed him. It was after this incident that Lestat discovered his mother was dying of consumption. As her last wish, she bequeathed all her jewels to Lestat, so he could run away to Paris and fulfill his dream of being an actor on stage.
Lestat’s Vampire Life Begins in Paris
Lestat and his childhood friend Nicolas de Lenfent, a cynical violinist who was now his lover, fled to the big city together. They both got work in a shabby theater in the heart of the city, where Lestat quickly became a rising star. Nicolas, meanwhile, sank further into depression as Lestat’s on-stage fame grew. One night, Lestat noticed a face in the audience stalking him, whispering the words “Wolfkiller” into his mind. One night, this being, who turned out to be a vampire, captured Lestat from his home and dragged him to his tower outside Paris. There, he forced him to become an undead being against his will. The Vampire Lestat was born.
Lestat’s vampire maker, Magnus, was about 300 years old, and an outcast from vampiric society. He had grown tired of eternal life, and chose Lestat as his heir. In part because of his beautiful looks, but also for his bravery in killing the wolves. Once Lestat became a vampire, Magnus flung himself into the fire, ending his existence. Thus, leaving Lestat without a teacher. Lestat took to his vampire existence like a duck to water, killing the many thieves and scoundrels of Paris. He bought the theater he worked at, giving his fellow actors continued employment. But he kept his new vampiric nature a secret from his lover, Nicolas, and kept his distance.
Lestat Turns His Dying Mother into a Vampire
Eventually, Lestat’s mother, Gabrielle, came to Paris to see her son one last time and to spend her final nights there. On her deathbed, Lestat revealed his true nature to her, and turned her into a vampire. Gabrielle became his first fledgling and companion in immortality. The two made Paris their hunting ground, although they’d often hear the telepathic voices of other vampires in the city calling them outcasts and blasphemers. Eventually, these Parisian vampires attacked them directly.
Meeting Armand and the Children of Darkness
These vampires were cultists, who lived in the nearby cemetery of Les Innocents. They believed what their mentor, the ancient vampire Armand, had taught them. They considered themselves the Children of Satan, and they had to live among the dead, stay away from mortals (except to feed), and run from crucifixes, as Satan commanded. But Lestat didn’t obey any of those rules. And because of his and Gabrielle’s presence, they knew the “rules” Armand had been feeding them for centuries were all lies and superstitions. Lies Armand told them to keep the coven under his thumb.
With his hold of the coven shattered by Lestat, and its members fleeing, Armand tried to become the new companion of Lestat. He told Lestat how an ancient Roman vampire named Marius had transformed him when he was a slave boy in Renaissance Venice. The Satanic vampires of Italy set Marius on fire for living against their dogmatic rules, leaving him for dead, and they kidnapped the young Armand. They brainwashed him into believing in their religion, and Armand became a leader among the Children of Darkness. He never truly believed in their ways, but used their dogma to control his Satanic coven in Paris.
Lestat Helps Create the Thétre des Vampires
Ultimately, Lestat rejected Armand, and transformed his lover, Nicolas, into a vampire. He did this despite Armand and Gabrielle warning him against it. Nicolas almost instantly went mad from the vampiric blood, and told Lestat that he resented and hated him for ever keeping it from him. Lestat and Gabrielle decided to leave Paris, but they left the theater he had bought to Armand and what remained of his coven. They transformed it into the Thétre des Vampires, where they acted out vampiric plays for Parisian mortal audiences who believed it all to be fake.
Nicolas remained at the Thétre des Vampires, in Armand’s care, while Lestat and Gabrielle searched for Marius, Armand’s maker. Even though Armand told them he was killed by the Children of Darkness centuries earlier, they didn’t believe a vampire that ancient could be destroyed so easily. They searched together for years, and found no sign of Marius de Romanus anywhere on Earth. After Nicolas finally threw himself into the flames, and Gabrielle decided to leave her son to be a lone wolf, a despondent Lestat buried himself in the Earth, where he remained for years.
Lestat Meets the Vampire Marius, Keeper of Akasha, Queen of the Damned
Eventually, Marius chose to reveal himself to Lestat, and pulled him out of the ground. He fed him his powerful blood and nurtured him back to health. He revealed himself as the keeper of “Those Who Must Be Kept,” also known as Queen Akasha and King Enkil of Egypt. Nearly 2,000 years prior, the scholar Marius was transformed into a vampire in ancient Rome. But only to become the new caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept. This 6,000-year-old royal pair were the ancient progenitors of the vampire species, and all vampire bloodlines came from them. They no longer drank blood, or spoke, or moved, frozen like statues.
Lestat Arrives in New Orleans, Creates Louis and Claudia
Since their destruction meant the entire species would be destroyed, they needed to be kept secret and safe. Marius had been their keeper for millennia and entrusted Lestat with this knowledge. But he made him swear to never tell a living soul. When Lestat played Nicolas’ violin for Akasha, she awoke momentarily and let Lestat drink her powerful and ancient blood. This made the young Lestat one of the most powerful vampires on Earth, despite being so young. Marius then told Lestat to flee to the New World, someplace where barely any vampires existed. Someplace that even Akasha could not find him. And that’s when Lestat wound up in New Orleans, and met his fledgling Louis, and the events of Interview with the Vampire began.
If you’ve seen seasons one and two of Interview with the Vampire, or the 1994 film adaptation, you probably know what became of Lestat next. Of course, many things happen to Lestat after the events of book two, but we’ll have to wait and see if AMC plans to adapt those books as well.
The Vampire Lestat airs at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+. You can also read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice today as you wait for the next episode of the series to air.
Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a life-long Anne Rice fan. Yes, he is a member of the OG fan club.
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