In the world of Interview with the Vampire, now known as The Vampire Lestat, there exists a tangle of complicated relationships that are some of the most winding, twisted, dark, and deliciously queer to ever appear on our screens. That’s because when you have a set of immortal vampires whose humanity is not withered, but heightened, by their endless lives, and who have little choice but to spend forever with one another, things tend to get messy. Of course, when we think of The Vampire Lestat, some obvious relationships spring to mind: Louis and Lestat, Claudia and Madeleine, and Armand and Daniel, to name a few. But, as a lifelong enjoyer of what you might call “the rare pair,” the relationship between Armand and Lestat (what some call “Lesmand”) also piques my interest.
In prior seasons, we’ve gotten glimpses of the two in Armand’s recollections of the past, however apocryphal they may be. And this year, we’ll likely see more from the past, but also some of the present relationship between Lestat and Armand. In The Vampire Lestat book by Anne Rice, Armand and Lestat have somewhat of an oscillating relationship between love and hate, but how does that manifest in the series? Here’s what Sam Reid had to say about what exists between Lestat and Armand in The Vampire Lestat.
Reid shared of Lesmand, “I don’t know if there’s a lot of… I mean, hate is such a strong word. I think that their dynamic is actually pretty accurate to the books. I think there’s like a flirty, sexy vibe that they’ve got that goes on between the two of them. Lestat thinks he’s a joke, like he thinks he is in the book. But Armand can come back and fucking own Lestat and destroy his life at a moment’s notice when he wants to. And Lestat’s aware of that. And I think the dynamic is their dynamic. I love the Armand and Lestat scenes in this season. So I think we’re doing it. Yeah.”
Showrunner Rolin Jones added, “And I think Lestat is actually incredibly respectful. There’s a bit of VO [in one of the episodes] when Lestat introduces Armand that might be one of the most accurate descriptions of Armand yet. So there is some inherent respect too about his power.”
Lestat, of course, is largely so irreverent that his respect is no small thing. And even though he can be vicious to Armand, who can be wholly awful right back, we love the idea of this undercurrent of understanding between them. A relationship with naunce and complexity keeps us coming back for more, one that was all hate wouldn’t be interesting at all. As for the “flirty, sexy vibe,” we can confirm it’s strong. And we can’t wait for you all to see what Armand and Lestat get up to this season on The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat (or season three of Interview with the Vampire) is currently streaming on AMC and AMC+. New episodes arrive Sundays at 9 pm PT/ET on AMC and at midnight on AMC+.