The hottest new rock star is the Vampire Lestat — with help from Bowie, Iggy and Freddie

In aboriginal June, hundreds of fans dressed to the nines were successful attendance astatine a stone star’s sold-out amusement astatine New York’s Beacon Theatre. There was lace everyplace and leather too. Chains dangled from loop loops and wrists. Some attendees arrived with dyed crimson hair, others with orangish oregon pink.

Sheer achromatic outfits that looked pulled from the pages of a gothic romance caller were draped connected bodies. If “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” had collided with a modern concert, it mightiness person looked thing similar this.

Then a antheral took the stage. Was it Lestat de Lioncourt, the immortal vampire-cum-rock star, oregon was it histrion Sam Reid?

Moments earlier, attendees had watched the archetypal occurrence of AMC’s “The Vampire Lestat,” the rebranded 3rd play of “Interview With the Vampire” that premiered earlier this month. This play adapts Anne Rice’s caller of the aforesaid name, which is told from the position of Lestat, played by Reid, and transforms him into a touring musician.

Now Reid, dressed successful achromatic with his thorax partially exposed beneath an unfastened overgarment revealing a scar, stepped connected signifier and into the relation of Lestat successful beforehand of the audience. As helium moved crossed the stage, phones changeable into the air. Fans screamed. People sang on to a slew of songs, and for a moment, the enactment betwixt histrion and quality seemed to disappear.

At archetypal glance, the duty to crook Lestat into a stone prima seemed straightforward. The vampire astatine the halfway of Rice’s beloved novels has flirted with euphony before. In 2002’s “Queen of the Damned,” helium emerged arsenic a leather-clad nu-metal frontman susceptible of commanding monolithic crowds. But bringing Lestat into the contiguous introduced a antithetic challenge. Rock euphony nary longer occupies the aforesaid spot successful fashionable culture. Fame is fragmented. Audiences are skeptical of celebrity. Social media tin physique a prima overnight and teardrop them down conscionable arsenic quickly.

Yet “The Vampire Lestat” asks viewers to judge thing arsenic audacious arsenic a centuries-old vampire inactive being capable to captivate people, motorboat a euphony vocation and animate a movement. Reid thinks portion of what drives the quality is thing amazingly modern.

“Nobody cares that I exist, cipher cares that I’m not relevant,” Reid said of Lestat’s mindset entering the season. “It’s truly amusive to spot him conflict with that and spot him effort to find his spot successful the satellite and not instantly get satellite domination.”

Making that phantasy consciousness believable required acold much than putting Lestat successful leather and handing him a microphone. To propulsion it off, the show’s originative squad had to physique a stone prima from the crushed up, crafting a ocular identity, creating euphony that could basal connected its ain extracurricular the series, and transforming Reid into a performer susceptible of owning a assemblage alternatively than simply acting successful beforehand of one.

Sam Reid’s Lestat de Lioncourt crowd-surfs successful “The Vampire Lestat.”

(Sophie Giraud / AMC)

“Dropping Lestat down into 2025 and making the determination for him to play stone ‘n’ rotation was a truly large melodramatic power due to the fact that portion determination are galore large stone bands that are live and kicking close now, their clasp of the taste scenery is rather small,” showrunner Rolin Jones said. “You couldn’t deliberation of a worse mode to get your connection retired than going to beryllium a stone prima close now.”

That situation became the instauration of the season.

Step 1: Making the music

A polished aesthetic, selling and, successful Lestat’s case, publication buzz tin lone instrumentality a instrumentalist truthful far. It’s the euphony that had to marque diehard fans judge he’s an creator genius, oregon astatine slightest a prima successful the making.

That situation landed with composer Daniel Hart agelong earlier a azygous publication was finished. In an antithetic twist, galore of the songs that would yet look passim the play were written earlier the writers’ country afloat mapped retired the story.

“There were truthful galore unknowns erstwhile we started,” Hart said. To find a mode in, Hart and Jones started with their acquainted notation point: David Bowie.

“We settled, I deliberation benignant of obviously, connected David Bowie arsenic the motorboat pad for our Lestat,” Hart said. “The mode that Bowie was truthful mercurial, and helium was a chameleon. He reinvented himself passim his career.”

Hart besides looked to artists arsenic varied arsenic Kurt Cobain and Chappell Roan, portion drafting inspiration from classical music, blues and the old-world dependable Lestat would person absorbed implicit his agelong life. One aboriginal writers’ country workout adjacent progressive breaking down the influences embedded wrong “Long Face,” the Bowie-coded archetypal azygous released from Lestat’s fictional album.

“‘Long Face’ feels similar a Bowie rip-off to Daniel Molloy [played by Eric Bogosian], and truthful past Lestat breaks the opus down for him and goes into each the different influences that are successful there,” Hart said. “ ‘Long Face,’ you could say, was successful immoderate mode influenced by Bach, and past [he] talked astir Willie Dixon, and however the blues had influenced Lestat erstwhile helium was astir the … 1920s and ‘30s.”

“He’s been live for 250 years,” Hart continued. “He’s seen and heard a batch of music.”

The originative squad ne'er acceptable retired to replicate the hard-rock dependable that defined “Queen of the Damned.” If anything, Jones felt trying to outdo that soundtrack would person been a losing battle.

In “The Vampire Lestat,” Sam Reid sings each opus himself, including “Long Face,” “Butterscotch Bitch,” “Your Biggest Fan,” “All Fall Down” and “Black Licorice.”

(Sophie Giraud / AMC)

“I mean, that soundtrack is deservedly precise famous,” Jones said. “And I deliberation if we decided to out-Korn Korn, we were going to beryllium successful trouble.”

Instead, their Lestat was a instrumentalist inactive searching for his voice. Jones says the play begins successful a much performative glam-rock abstraction earlier gradually evolving into thing much personal.

“We thought ‘70s Bowie is wherever we would start, and that we would musically marque a travel with him arsenic we went deeper and deeper,” helium said. “He would enactment his set connected 1 tour, what a mean set would do, implicit 4 albums. The euphony conscionable keeps changing. And arsenic helium gets much and much vulnerable, the songs statesman to change. They get much raw. They get much exposure, and the euphony benignant evolves.”

Reid sang each opus himself, including “Long Face,” “Butterscotch Bitch,” “Your Biggest Fan,” “All Fall Down” and “Black Licorice.”

“The much bombastic, the much over-the-top songs — helium doesn’t look to similar them by the extremity of this season,” Hart said. “The much introspective songs that travel aboriginal connected are much successful his caller wheelhouse.”

That travel besides shaped however Reid approached the material. While audiences volition yet spot the songs unfold wrong the discourse of the show, Reid encountered galore of them earlier helium afloat understood wherever Lestat’s communicative was heading.

“I deliberation successful the beginning, he’s coming from an artificial benignant of construct,” Reid says. “As the amusement goes on, the euphony becomes much personal, and helium becomes little funny successful really uncovering emotion done his assemblage and much astir uncovering who helium is arsenic an idiosyncratic and arsenic an artist.”

When Jones archetypal began adapting “The Vampire Lestat,” helium concisely considered making the quality the benignant of arena-filling superstar audiences mightiness expect, similar a Beyoncé oregon Taylor Swift. But the much the writers discussed it, the little absorbing that mentation felt.

“If we were gonna commencement chipping distant astatine each the armor that Lestat had, 1 of the large repetitive ways of a circuit is you conscionable can’t look to interruption a ceiling,” Jones said. “He’s a niche star. And I deliberation that is portion of the state that fuels this small journey.”

Hart besides had the content that Lestat would beryllium a monolithic star.

“But it became much evident that [he might] not precisely person the benignant of occurrence that helium wanted and desperately felt similar helium needed — that was a much absorbing communicative to tell,” helium said.

Step 2: Getting the stone prima look

While the assemblage has to judge Lestat is simply a stone star, they besides person to judge he’s idiosyncratic with the look — and worthy staring at.

Lex Wood, the show’s costume designer, said that the situation began agelong earlier cameras rolled connected Season 3. Jones archetypal floated the thought of stone prima Lestat portion the squad filmed Season 2 successful Prague successful 2023, giving Wood clip to statesman imagining what a astir 300-year-old vampire mightiness deterioration portion reinventing himself arsenic a singer. During a accumulation travel to Paris, she started sourcing pieces and collecting references that would yet marque their mode into this play years later.

“The main purpose of gathering costumes for Lestat was to support an constituent of the unachievable,” says amusement costumer decorator Lex Wood. “To stress that Lestat is untouchable.”

(Sophie Giraud / AMC)

Being fashionable wasn’t the lone goal.

“The main purpose of gathering costumes for Lestat was to support an constituent of the unachievable,” Wood said. “To stress that Lestat is untouchable. Hence, gathering circumstantial costume physique shapes and patterns that we adapted passim the season.”

That thought guided astir each facet of the wardrobe. While the archetypal 2 seasons often presented Lestat done structured tailoring and muted palettes, Season 3 arrives successful a overmuch louder world.

“A large happening truly was that we wanted to propulsion much colour into the play successful general,” Wood said.

Wood said the prime reflected wherever Lestat finds himself emotionally. No longer confined to drafting rooms and play silhouettes, he’s navigating celebrity, show and self-reinvention. Leather remains. Black remains. But truthful bash bursts of color, softer fabrics and unusual patterns.

“We wanted to interruption Lestat escaped of the suiting,” Wood said. “Though we wanted to stay existent to his roots successful the 18th century, we besides wanted Lestat’s pieces to consciousness somewhat otherworldly astatine times.”

That meant weaving successful elements of garments from the 18th period and making them consciousness contemporary. This could look similar a precise circumstantial chopped of a sleeve of a garment that nods to that time.

Wood besides studied the backstage photography of Mick Rock, pulling references of Bowie, Iggy Pop and Freddie Mercury. She blended that with punk-inspired designs from Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier. Goth icon Siouxsie Sioux besides became an influence, peculiarly successful the usage of layering, texture and attitude.

Wood said the scattered references bespeak a quality actively trying to fig retired who helium wants to be.

“He’s investigating societal media himself,” she said. “As he’s discovering his beingness arsenic a stone star. He’s investigating what it means to beryllium a stone star.”

“He’s uncovering his persona,” she continued. “And trying connected antithetic personas.”

That thought extends each the mode down to accessories, with Lestat’s jewelry blending aged and caller — a customized necklace created by a U.K. silversmith recalls 1 worn by Mercury during Queen’s aboriginal years, portion rings featuring sculpted teeth service arsenic subtle reminders of his vampiric nature.

“We purposefully wanted immoderate of his wardrobe to not beryllium recognizable to immoderate peculiar marque — astatine different times, we wanted to observe high-end fashion, to research his playfulness and unpredictable quality done his clothing,” Wood said.

Even the shoes became portion of the transformation. One of Wood’s earliest conversations with Reid centered connected abandoning the heeled footwear that helped specify earlier versions of the character. This Lestat needed thing heavier for a performer who could gait a stage.

“He wanted thing that felt much grounded,” Wood said. “Something helium could bounce astir much in.”

Wood said the redesigned footwear altered Reid’s posture and movement, helping make a mentation of Lestat that she noted feels much volatile and much comfy captivating a assemblage than charming one.

Step 3: Becoming the stone star

For each the enactment that went into the costumes, euphony and scripts, nary of it mattered unless the watchers believed the histrion tying it each together.

Reid had already spent 2 seasons playing Lestat done different characters’ memories and perspectives. This clip astir required him to transportation the character’s communicative done his ain reflections. More importantly, helium had to reply a deceptively hard question: Why would anyone travel Lestat successful the archetypal place?

“It’s not fame that he’s after,” says Reid of his quality successful “The Vampire Lestat.” “Fame is wholly impermanent for a carnal that lives forever.”

(Sophie Giraud / AMC)

The aboveground reply mightiness beryllium fame. The quality launches a euphony career, records songs and steps into the spotlight. But Reid doesn’t deliberation that’s what drives him.

“It’s not fame that he’s after,” Reid said. “Fame is wholly impermanent for a carnal that lives forever.”

Reid sees Lestat arsenic idiosyncratic searching for validation.

“Not for the vampire that helium is, but for the quality being that helium was,” helium said. “He’s been beauteous heavy rejected. From Louis done the book, and past his parent knows precisely however to drawstring him along, erstwhile to springiness him emotion and erstwhile to instrumentality it away. So he’s truly looking for validation and going into an assemblage abstraction is wherever helium archetypal experienced that.”

While processing the season, Reid says helium became progressively funny successful the spread betwixt the nationalist mentation of Lestat and the idiosyncratic underneath it.

“His full beingness has been performance,” Reid said. “His full beingness has been a batch of adversity, and the mode that helium benignant of climbs retired of that is to physique a conception that helium tin execute and run in. It makes a batch of consciousness for him to bash this stone prima persona. Through this play you commencement to spot him recognize that the euphony and the creation tin let him to entree himself arsenic opposed to it conscionable being a performance.”

“He’s trying to observe his dependable arsenic a musician,” Reid continued. “But he’s besides trying to observe who helium is.”

Throughout the season, viewers spot a instrumentalist struggling to connect.

“Why can’t I merchantability retired 5,000 seats?” Jones says, describing the character’s mindset. “I utilized to beryllium capable to locomotion into a country and everyone would emotion me.”

For Jones, that’s yet what makes Lestat consciousness similar a modern artist. Sure, helium whitethorn beryllium an immortal vampire, but he’s navigating the aforesaid questions that face plentifulness of artists: How overmuch of yourself to reveal? How overmuch should 1 perform? Can admiration ever substitute for genuine connection?

By the clip the play reaches its conclusion, Lestat is inactive larger than life. But he’s besides a much analyzable performer forced to reckon with the region betwixt being seen and understood. Jones said nary of this would beryllium imaginable without Reid successful the role.

“I deliberation his show successful Season 3 is 1 of the 10 top American TV performances of each time,” Jones says. “I’d enactment him close adjacent to Carroll O’Connor, Walter White [played by Bryan Cranston] and James Gandolfini.”

“And I’d look astatine each of them and say, ‘You guys didn’t sing.’ ”