Tom Cruise proved the world wrong as Lestat in 1994’s Interview with the Vampire.
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Updated 6 months ago,November 14, 2024
Vampires ate good in the 90s.
In 1994, Neil JordansInterview with the Vampire based on Anne Rices 1976 novel invited its way into cinemas.
Warner Bros.
But could he play a vampire from an Anne Rice novel?
No one saw it, including the author herself.
Rice saw Ridley Scott as the right auteur and wanted hisBlade Runnercollaborator Rutger Hauer as Lestat.
Plus, it also helped that he had serious star power.
She praised and endorsed the film, including Cruises performance.
Cruise confirmed the phone call, too.
However, he proved her wrong with his understanding of the vampire and his intentions.
At its core, the relationship between Lestat and Louis de Pointe du Lac is about codependency.
Anyone who was familiar with the source material knew exactly what the nature of their relationship would have been.
Cruise layers his performance with a gamut of emotion and complexities.
He wrestles with embracing the nature of the vampire and the soul of humanity.
The performance informed the world that Cruise was no one-trick pony.
For Cruise, though, he didnt see any danger in saying yes toInterview with the Vampire.
Instead, he saw it as a challenge, as he toldEsquirein 1994.
Hes not a bad guy, he just has villainous aspects to him, Cruise said.
From his point of view, hes right.
Hes really a terribly lonely character.
