"You Are Miscast": Interview With The Vampire Director Notes Tom Cruise's Cast Backlash Thirty Years Later
Director of 1994's Interview With The Vampire Neil Jordan reflects on Tom Cruise's contentious casting thirty years after the film's premiere. Playing the Lestat de Lioncourt, Brad Pitt's vampiric sire, fans of Anne Rice's 1974 book and even the author herself first objected strongly to Cruise's casting. Once the film was out, Rice would finally retract her earlier claims and personally called Jordan to apologize for her remarks, famously characterizing Jordan's choice to cast Cruise as "so bizarre; it's almost impossible to imagine how it's going to work."
Speaking with The Guardian, Jordan muses over his choice to have Cruise perform Lestat. For the celebrity, suggesting the initial reaction must have been rather challenging. Jordan called Cruise a fantastic actor who could unexpectedly wow viewers with his natural approach. He even declared him to be the "last remaining film star." Review his remarks below:
Cruise's Lestat Deserved A Second Outing
Although Interview with the Vampire predominantly tells the tale of Lestat's vampire child, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) the later volumes in Rice's Vampire Chronicles mostly center on Lestat as their narrator and protagonist. Starting with The Vampire Lestat from 1985 and ending with Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat in 2018, Rice's adored Brat Prince was the clear protagonist of her later stories. Sadly, though, the only chance movie-going viewers have had to encounter Lestat as the principal character was in the severely attacked Queen of the Damned in 2002.
Drawing on Rice's second and third volumes and replacing Cruise with Stuart Townsend, Queen of the Damned lacked the critical and financial success of Jordan's version. Following the publication of Jordan's Interview with the Vampire, Rice would later repudiate its stand-alone sequel and urge her followers to "simply forget" that it existed. Her views would shift. The fact that viewers almost saw Cruise return to headline a totally different sequel instead makes the second Vampire Chronicles film much more depressing.
The Classic Gothic Tale Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rice's 1976 book, chronicles the convoluted relationship between two vampire characters, Lestat and Louis, following Lestat's turn-about in 1791. With a cast including Kirsten Dunst as Claudia, the two men's young charge who Lestat also turns in an effort to keep a disappointed Louis from departing, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt play as Lestat and Louis respectively. As Daniel Molloy, a mid-1990s reporter covering Louis's story, Christian Slayter rounds out the cast.
Classic gothic story, Interview with the Vampire explores the ideas of immortality, solitude, and the complexity of human nature. Audiences all around were enthralled with the film's eerie mood, captivating actors, and gripping plot. Fans still find great resonance in the movie, therefore confirming its popularity as a cherished and powerful vampire genre entry.
The Reaction Against Tom Cruise's Casting: A divisive Decision
He had to have found it quite challenging. Said the world at large, "You are miscast." He presents a fantastic actor. If he claims he can accomplish anything, he will do it in a manner that would astound others. Tom now is the last surviving movie star. It seems quite odd.
Many Anne Rice readers questioned and even attacked Tom Cruise's casting as Lestat of Lioncourt. Critics contended that Lestat's more gloomy and sophisticated image didn't fit Cruise's young and appealing one. Still, Cruise gave a riveting performance as Lestat, enthralling viewers with his charisma and ferocity despite early reaction. The popularity of the movie and Cruise's performance finally demonstrated he was able to embrace a darker and more complex part.
Interview with the Vampire: A Lasting Legacy
Having earned $223.7 million against a $60 million initial budget, Jordan's Interview With The Vampire's financial success first inspired him to start working on a sequel based on The Vampire Lestat. That project, sadly, would never come to be and viewers would be deprived of the chance to watch him revert to his roguish vampire nobility. Should Jordan's sequel come to be, the legacy of the character would probably have found a somewhat different position in popular culture.
Notwithstanding the controversy around Tom Cruise's casting, the Vampire movie became a critical and financial triumph, therefore confirming its status as a classic vampire movie. It also began the careers of other performers, notably Kirsten Dunst portraying the young vampire Claudia. Showcasing the power of a gripping narrative and the strength of gifted actors, the ongoing popularity and influence of the movie inspire next generations of filmmakers and viewers. Interview with the Vampire is a beloved classic in the realm of vampire Movies even if a sequel based on The Vampire Lestat never came to be.
