In episode three of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat, “Toronto,” we finally get an excellent character study of Nicholas de Lenfent, Lestat’s first true love in 18th-century France. He’s once again played by actor Joseph Potter, who briefly played him in a flashback scene in Interview with the Vampire season two. But who is this enigmatic vampire in the Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles canon? Much like Claudia, he’s not a character who lasted past one novel, but his impact haunts Lestat for the rest of his immortal days.
How Do Nicholas de Lenfent and Lestat First Meet?
In the early chapters of The Vampire Lestat, we learned that Lestat was friends with Nicholas de Lenfant as a child. They shared a potent childhood moment together, when both were taken by a local priest to a location where they burned witches in the Middle Ages. They reunited as adults after Lestat saved their French countryside village from a pack of wolves. Nicki’s father was a tailor, and he presented Lestat with a red cloak lined with their fur. The two reconnected, with Nicki explaining how he had gone to Paris to become a pupil of Mozart as a violinist. However, he ultimately wasn’t good enough, and returned home in shame. When Lestat decided to run away to Paris, he took Nicki with him, in part because he’d lived there before.
Was Nicki Lestat’s First Love?
By all accounts, Nicki was Lestat’s first true love, although Lestat had sexual trysts with both men and women before Nicki. He fell in love with his wit and talent as a musician, but his cynicism was often overwhelming. Yet Nicki was equally drawn to Lestat’s outgoing attitude and sense of humor. Lestat found success in Paris as an actor, but Nicki wanted to go to Paris and fail, hoping to spite his disapproving parents. They wanted him to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a tailor, not become a hedonistic musician in Paris. But Nicki was indeed Lestat’s first true love.
Why Does Nicholas Struggle After Becoming a Vampire?
Nicki struggled with depression as a human, had a tendency toward dark thoughts, and was generally cynical. He likely suffered from some form of undiagnosed mental illness. Because of this, Lestat resisted giving Nicolas the Dark Gift after becoming a vampire himself. But after Armand’s coven kidnapped Nicki and drained him of blood, Lestat gave in and turned him. This, despite his own mother Gabrielle warning him of impending disaster.
When turned into an immortal, Nicki went catatonic for months, with Lestat bringing humans for him to feed on. Eventually, he snapped out of the catatonia and rejected Lestat for ever keeping the blood from him in the first place. He essentially tells Lestat that he “owes him” the Theater of the Vampires, and tells Lestat to leave him and Paris.
Why Does Lestat Leave Nicki?
Lestat leaves Nicki after he angrily rejects him, sometime after he transforms him into a vampire. He tells Lestat that he resents the fact that he succeeded in Paris as an actor, when all he wanted when they went to Paris was to disappoint his disapproving parents, whom he hated. He wanted to “go down and down and down,” while Lestat continued to “go up to the light.” And when he got “the dark magic,” as he called it, he somehow became an even brighter beacon that Nicki resented even more. So he essentially forced Lestat and Gabrielle to leave Paris.
What Happens to Nicholas in The Vampire Lestat?
After Lestat and Gabrielle leave Paris, they leave Armand in charge of the coven in the Theater, along with Nicki. Armand would write Lestat letters, informing him of his progress. Sadly, Nicki’s mental condition did not improve, and he continued to behave recklessly. He made new vampire after new vampire, drawing too much attention, and his kills were sloppy, endangering the coven. At one point, Armand chops off Nicki’s hands as punishment. Eventually, Nicki realizes he has no stamina for vampire life, and throws himself into the fire, something Lestat learns about in a letter from Armand. The ancient coven master also sends Lestat Nicki’s violin.
How Does Nicki’s Fate Affect Lestat?
Lestat falls into a deep depression over the death of Nicki, and he blames himself for everything that went wrong with him. In fact, he buries himself in the Earth after Nicki’s death, until the ancient vampire Marius finds him. When he eventually meets and makes Louis a vampire, he describes him as Nicki’s “spiritual twin” in many ways. He even refers to his relationship with Louis as punishment for his failings with his first love.
How Is Nicholas Different in the Books and The Vampire Lestat TV Series?
Nicolas de Lenfent is remarkably similar to his portrayal in the novels, perhaps more than any other character. One key difference is that Nicki was already in Paris when Lestat reunited with him, and they didn’t run away there together. But everything else about Nicki in AMC’s The Vampire Lestat is in keeping with Rice’s original idea of him. The other big difference is that Nicki dies with Lestat present in the room, after chopping off his own hands.
Will Nicki return in future episodes? It’s certainly possible there are more flashbacks to his and Lestat’s time together. We doubt that Nicki survived the flames in the AMC version’s events, but one never knows. The Vampire Lestat is currently dropping new episodes every Sunday night on AMC and AMC+.