One thing that befuddled Interview with the Vampire fans from the trailer to The Vampire Lestat was the moment where we see Lestat peeing blood in a public urinal. Was this from a dream sequence? Since when do vampires need to urinate? Well, after the first episode of The Vampire Lestat, we’ve learned that yes, in the world of AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe, the undead do have to take a leak sometimes.
Vampires Do Indeed Have to Pee in AMC’s The Vampire Lestat
Lestat does so in this episode, and he’s even accosted by two angry vampires peeing next to him. Lestat explains, via voice-over narration, that yes, vampires do indeed have to pee, just not as frequently as humans. Also, it’s hard to get blood out of eco-friendly urinals. Who knew?
Do Vampires Urinate in Anne Rice’s Books?
So, is this an invention of the series, or do vampires pee in Anne Rice lore? The short answer is, in Rice’s books, they do not pee. But the TV series vampires deviate wildly from Rice’s take on vampire physiology already. For starters, Rice’s vampires have almost translucent skin, which exposes their veins, except for in the hours after they feed. They don’t eat, drink any fluids other than blood, or have to go to the bathroom for number one or number two. Rice vampires do cry, but only blood tears. They also sweat blood, but only under extreme duress. Most markedly different from Rice’s novels is that her vampires don’t have human sex. And on the show, they absolutely do. Although they admit that it’s way behind in terms of pleasure in comparison to blood consumption.
Essentially, in Rice’s novels, vampires describe the act of taking blood as being a bit orgasmic, like sex (but not exactly), a bit like getting high off drugs, with accompanying hallucinations, and of course, it’s their food. But it’s all of those things, and yet also none of those things. Both Louis and Lestat have said it’s a state that they simply can’t explain to humans.
Do Anne Rice Vamps Have to Go to the Bathroom in the Movie Versions?
In the 1994 movie adaptation, Louis says of the transformation, “Might as well ask Heaven what it sees. No human can truly know.” The movie is more in keeping with Rice’s original take. We know they dont eat and drink. And we never see them needing a bathroom break. But the AMC series brings its vampires a bit more down to Earth. Although they do retain a lot of Rice’s supernatural powers, like telepathy, flight (among some of them), and the ability to start fires.
In the Anne Rice novel The Tale of the Body Thief, the Vampire Lestat becomes stuck in a human body for a prolonged time. He wanted to feel what it felt like to be human again after 200 years and change. Turns out, he romanticized being human and found that he actually hated it. He loathed getting sick, having no real strength, and how quickly sex acts were over. Oh, and the disgusting nature of having to poop and pee all the time. He really disliked that. He was glad to get back to his immortal body as soon as possible. But in the AMC series, if he ever goes through similar events in future seasons, he’ll at least have been used to peeing.
The Vampire Lestat airs at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+.
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.