TV
Sam Reid Bites Into Lestat Role for AMC’s “Interview With the Vampire” Series!
Anne Rice was recently shopping around a massive television and film package for both The Vampire Chronicles and The Lives of the Mayfair Witches, you may recall, with AMC Networks acquiring the package last year and therefore landing the rights to all novels in both series.
The first to get a small-screen adaptation is “Interview With the Vampire”, which was ordered to series earlier this summer.
Huge news this morning as it’s been announced that Sam Reid will play the vampire Lestat in the new series that’s to be directed by Alan Taylor (“Mad Men”, “Game of Thrones”, “Sex and the City”, “Six Feet Under”, “Deadwood”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Lost”).
Variety notes that the casting could represent a long-term investment in Reid on AMC’s part as “the company has the rights to all of Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles books and Lestat appears in multiple entries.”
“The book centers on the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac as he relates the story of his life to a reporter, in particular how he was turned into a vampire and then mentored by Lestat de Lioncourt.”
The “Interview With the Vampire” saga of course centers on vampires Louis and Lestat, characters played by Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise in the 1996 feature film directed by Neil Jordan.
“Interview With the Vampire” will be an eight-episode series with an eye toward a 2022 debut on both AMC and AMC Plus. Rolin Jones will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner on the series under his overall deal with AMC Studios. Mark Johnson will executive produce under his overall deal with AMC Studios as well, with Anne Rice and Christopher Rice also executive producing.
As the inaugural season of Apple TV+’s stellar new series “Widow’s Bay” barrels toward its finale in two weeks, the latest episode gives Kate O’Flynn the spotlight as her character revisits her trauma with the Boogeyman.
“Your Baggage“, directed by Andrew DeYoung (Friendship), sees O’Flynn’s scene-stealing Patricia once again renew her fight with the Michael Myers-like stalker that slaughtered her peers during her adolescence. Thrillingly, it makes for one extended chase sequence that sees Patricia trying to warn others, while evading the undead killer.
In short, this episode’s incredible riff on Halloween and the slasher subgenre transformed Patricia into a fierce Final Girl.
“Well, that felt like a bucket list that I didn’t know was on my bucket list until I did it, but when I did it, I just lapped up every minute,” O’Flynn tells Bloody Disgusting of her triumphant turn this episode. “It felt fantastic for her to get that moment where she is becoming a badass. That was amazing.”
The actress turned to a few notable references for her performance. “Horror-wise, I go back to my youth, which was referenced in some of the episodes: Wicker Man, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby, that sort of thing is my kind of vibe.”
O’Flynn also notes how the series’ unique tone allows for so much creative freedom to make bold swings. “There’s something very freeing about it. Every moment is up for grabs, so it’s like we don’t have to totally land in one direction or another. It keeps it alive.“
Patricia is the eccentric assistant to Matthew Rhys‘ Mayor Tom Loftis, who’s at the forefront of trying to solve the island’s pesky curse predicament. Rhys felt the same about “Widow’s Bay” and its rare ability to make you laugh and scream in equal measure, stemming from series creator Katie Dippold.
“The mandate was, ‘It’s a real world with real people. You play for real.’ There’s no playing for comedy or horror,” Rhys echoes O’Flynn’s sentiments on how freeing the series’ tone has been.
New episodes will release every Wednesday through June 17 only on Apple TV+.
Kate O’Flynn in “Widow’s Bay,” now streaming on Apple TV.
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