NOSTALGIA | Before Tom Cruise, know which actors almost lived Lestat in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ (1994)

Interview with the Vampire (1994) is undoubtedly one of the most beloved horror films of the 90s, and one of the most praised vampire films in cinema history – perhaps the most praised. Now, the cult feature film will gain a new version, in the form of a TV series to be launched by the AMC channel (the same as the success The Walking Dead), with a premiere scheduled for October. Of course, it all started in the form of a book from the 1970s, written by the author Anne Rice. The writer aimed Rutger Hauer like Lestat, the antagonist of the story, when he wrote the book, and got to talk to some stars of the time, like Tom Hanks, to the paper. But when Warner, who had bought the rights before the book was published, decided to scale tom cruise for the role, the author almost had a meltdown.

Read too: ‘Interview with the Vampire’ (1994) | Author was DISGUSTED with the casting of Tom Cruise in the classic

It turns out that during the 1980s, however much tom cruise wanted to be seen as a serious actor – and looked for that in films like The Color of Money It is rain man -, many still had prejudice with the star for his pretty face, and saw him only as the heartthrob of Top Gun – Indomitable Aces (1986). Tom Cruise proved everyone wrong, including the creator of the story, demonstrating with his talent what he could do in the role. Anne Rice wrote a letter of apology to the actor, and recorded a video recommending the film as a “masterpiece”. Today, we may not be able to see any other actor in the role of the Machiavellian Lestat, and that’s why the actor Sam Reid (the new interpreter of Lestat in the series), will have a lot of work to replace Cruise in the role. definitely the limited Stuart Townsend was no match when living the same character in The Queen of the Damned (2002), mequetrefe sequence of the film – which many do not know and many prefer to forget.

The truth is that before tom cruise crush the role of Lestat in Interview with the Vampire, some other actors were considered for the character by Warner. Here, in honor of this classic that is being “revitalized” for the new times, and also thinking about the new look that the story will soon receive – and we hope it will be satisfactory -, we decided to take a look and show you who could have lived Lestat (or died lestat) before Cruise. Check out.

Today, a star in trouble with the law due to accusations of domestic violence and a legal fight with his ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp had his career tarnished even after he was acquitted of many of the accusations in court. The fact is: Depp and Heard lived a toxic relationship that was not good for either party. But going back to the 1990s, the actor was one of the hottest young stars of the day, delivering hits like Edward Scissor Hands and the series law Angels. Precisely because of this, Depp was one of the actors Warner had in mind for the role of the vampire Lestat. The actor, however, who was interested in being recognized for his range of interpretation, opted for more exotic dramatic projects, such as crybaby, arizona dream, benny & joon It is Gilbert Grape – Dreamer’s Apprentice. Thus, Depp would promptly refuse the role invitation, but almost two decades later he would live a vampire in the ill-fated adaptation of Night shadowsby the same Warner.

This lineup would be very interesting! Considered by many to be the best actor of his generation still active, the British Daniel Day-Lewis collects the record as the actor with no less than three Oscar wins as a leading actor. This is for the few. Or rather, to no one but himself. As for the actresses, two beat their record, but that is a subject for another article. In summary, it would have been a curious lineup to say the least and it really was, since Day-Lewis was the Lestat initially hired in Interview with the Vampire. The actor was coming off an Oscar win for my left foot and an indication by In the name of the Father. And if anyone wanted to see how the star would look with long hair, just watch The last of the Mohicans, released at the time. For some reason, Day-Lewis had to abandon the project and would only return to the screens 3 years later.

Interview with the Vampire was almost adapted in the 70s, when Warner bought the rights to the book by Anne Rice. At this time, the studio’s main target for the role of Lestat was john travoltaa star who would be featured in hits such as The Saturday Night Packs It is Grease – In the Time of Brilhantina. Apparently, the actor would go ahead with the film, if the studio had chosen to actually produce the feature. It turns out that due to a flood of productions along the same lines, such as Dracula, Nosferatu – The Vampire of the Night and even a comedy called Love at First Bite made Warner shelve the adaptation, not only Interview with the Vampireas well as The Salem Vampiresbased on Stephen King. When things finally started to turn around again, Travolta was already considered too old for the role, which needed to be sensual.

It is almost unthinkable to see the good square Tom Hanks like a bloodthirsty vampire, unless such a production was a comedy. This was not the case. The only person who saw potential in this lineup was the author. Anne Ricewho even met Hanks to talk about the film and the role, after being thrilled with her performance in Philadelphia (1993). In the end, Hanks would refuse the proposal and leave to star in Forrest Gump – The Storyteller (1994), released the same year and which would become an even bigger hit than Rice’s vampire film. Other than that, he would still receive his second Oscar for the project. That is, we cannot say that the actor made a wrong choice.

Another actor considered by Warner for the role of the vampire Lestat before hiring tom cruise was the veteran Oscar winner Jeremy Irons. Now known in pop culture as the butler Alfred from the movies of Zack Snyder in DC and as the older version of Ozymandias in the new watchmenIrons began his career in the 1970s and won an Oscar in 1991 for the film Reverse of Fortune. Precisely for this honor and for his size and elegance, the British actor was one of the first options for the character – at the time still collecting classy films like Losses and damages It is M. butterfly. However, at the same time, Irons had also participated in the dramatic epic The House of Spirits, based on a book about the story of a Mexican family. In this film, which also features Meryl Streep, Glenn Close It is Winona Ryder in the cast, the actor had to wear heavy makeup to age his character. This “trauma” made him give up Interview with the Vampirea film that he would also need to transform into.

Here, we go back to the past once again. When writing the book, the author Anne Riceperhaps already planning the work in a cinematographic way – that’s because Warner had bought the rights to the story even before the book was released – thought the actor Rutger Hauer when he created the character Lestat. Thus, it is clear that the Dutch actor was his option for the role in the 70s. As mentioned above, the project did not succeed at the time, and had to be shelved due to productions of the same theme that were coming out of the drawing board at the time. By the time it began to take shape more than a decade later, Hauer was no longer a possibility for the studio. However, he would live a vampire for Fox in Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1992, on the eve of the Anne Rice vampire movie. After that, he would return to being a bloodsucking undead in the miniseries. The Salem Vampiresfrom 2004.