If you’re looking for a great new horror series that you can really sink your teeth into, look no further than AMC’s Interview with the Vampire . It’s bloody brilliant and packs a powerful bite.
If the name sounds familiar, that’s because prior to the TV series, author Anne Rice first adapted her international best-selling book into a movie. So have a look below and check out these Interview with the Vampire movie facts that fans probably didn’t know .
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Several of Hollywood’s most formidable leading men were considered for the parts of Louis and Lestat.
Among the shortlist included the likes of Mel Gibson, Jeremy Irons, Richard Gere, and Daniel Day-Lewis . Pitt and Cruise ultimately won out in the end, but you can’t tell me that Daniel Day-Lewis wouldn’t have made an excellent Lestat.
There was an animatronic version of Lestat shown in the movie.
The scene where Claudia slits Lestat’s throat and we see him crawling around the floor, blood spilling everywhere, wasn’t actually performed by Tom Cruise at all. It was the work of special effects pioneer, Stan Winston .
The film took nearly two decades to adapt.
Anne Rice actually sold the rights to her novel, “Interview with the Vampire,” all the way back in 1976 . The project was shelved several times over before finally premiering in 1994.
Kirsten Dunst bombed in her first audition, according to her acting coach.
“He listened on the door to hear, like, what I was doing. And he knows I didn’t nail it. And I walked out, and he was like, ‘ No, you go back in there .’”
Cher came very close to playing Lestat.
David Geffen was reportedly nervous about some of the queer undertones of the book and how that might translate to film. In order to avoid controversy, he considered gender-swapping the character of Lestat .
Brad Pitt’s performance as Louis wound up informing a fellow actor’s performance more than a decade later.
In order to prepare for his role in the film Daybreakers , Ethan Hawke closely studied Adrian Pasdar in Near Dark and Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire .
There’s an homage to Fred Astaire that you might have missed.
The scene where Santiago shows off his vampire prowess by dancing on the walls and the ceiling was an allusion to Fred Astaire’s performance in Royal Wedding , when he dances to “You’re All The World To Me.”
Brad Pitt was miserable throughout the filming process.
It turns out that Brad Pitt wasn’t just acting miserable — he actually felt that way! Pitt lamented that filming for six months straight, almost entirely in the dark and at night , will have that effect on a person.
Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas never crossed paths while filming.
As fans of the film may very well remember, Lestat and Armand don’t share a single scene together. This meant that Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas never actually met while filming the movie.
One of Tom Cruise’s biggest fans and supporters walked out of the theater.
That person was none other than the legendary talkshow host, Oprah Winfrey . While she may love Tom to pieces, oprah is not a fan of horror films.
Author Anne Rice wasn’t in favor of casting Tom Cruise to play Lestat.
Inittially, Rice wanted Rutger Hauer for the role. Rice revolted heavily against Cruise’s casting but wound up falling in love with his performance in the end.
Kirsten Dunst has her first on-screen kiss in the film — and she hated it.
Most people would sell their mother for a kiss from Brad Pitt, but keep in mind that Dunst was barely 11 years old at the time. Which is kind of creepy, when you stop to think about it.
Yes, Anne Rice inevitably wound up apologizing to Tom Cruise.
In the beginning, Rice wasn’t shy about making her opinions on the matter known, as was previously mentioned. Rice went as far as to call Tom on the telephone and admit to him how wrong she’d been.
The role of Daniel Molloy was originally meant for River Phoenix.
Christian Slater was cast after River’s tragic death. While speaking with Venice magazine, Slater said, “That was so tragic, and it was really awkward to be stepping into that kind of scenario.”
Tom Cruise had a very peculiar method for getting into the mind of Lestat.
Tom was trying to tap into Lestat’s predatory nature and found that the best way to do that was to watch nature documentaries of lions hunting zebras .
