Interview with the Vampire Director Recollects Tom Cruise Casting Backlash 30 Years Later

Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire stays a cult basic 30 years after its launch in theaters. Nonetheless, the Anne Rice adaptation’s success didn’t come with out some controversy, notably within the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat.

Talking with Selection about Interview‘s thirtieth anniversary, Jordan opened up in regards to the controversy that emerged following Cruise’s casting because the vampire Lestat. “I simply noticed that I preferred him as an actor, it’s so simple as that,” mentioned the director concerning whether or not Cruise’s star energy gave him an edge over different actors for the function. “I imply, Lestat is described as tall, rangy, and blonde haired and all that form of stuff. Tom was none of these issues. However he had a conviction and a sort of a chilling centrality to him, that I believed he’d be nice on this function. It struck me that an enormous Hollywood star was compelled right into a life not in contrast to the life that Lestat led. They should keep away from publicity, keep away from crowds, maintain their legend intact, maintain a sure unknowability about them. And I believed these issues had been half and parcel of Tom’s life, and perhaps they might make him an excellent Lestat. And it turned out to be the case.”

It wasn’t solely followers of the novel that had been vital of Cruise as Lestat. Rice herself was adamantly towards Cruise within the function, going as far as to publicly criticize and marketing campaign towards the casting, though she later apologized after seeing his efficiency. Reflecting on the backlash, Jordan shared that it felt “like all the of america was out for me, actually.”

He continued, “It created slightly paranoid world for us, mainly. We had been capturing massive scenes in San Francisco, New Orleans, London and Paris. And in every case, we needed to defend ourselves off from paparazzi, from any glimpses of what we had been doing. It was like we had been making the film like vampires, in an odd means. It helped me within the course of, it concentrated the thoughts. I’m undecided the way it helped the actors, nevertheless it made the manufacturing quite particular.”

What Is Interview with the Vampire About?

Launched in 1994, Interview with the Vampire focuses on vampires Lestat and Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt), chronicling their time collectively and their turning of younger Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) right into a vampire. The film (and novel) is exclusive in that it frames the story round a present-day interview between Louis and San Francisco reporter Daniel Molloy, performed by Cristian Slater. The film acquired constructive evaluations upon launch and was a field workplace hit, grossing over $223 million worldwide towards a $60 million funds.

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‘They Have been All Flawed’: Interview with the Vampire Director Recollects Outrage Over Tom Cruise Casting

1994’s Interview With the Vampire was very profitable nevertheless it additionally got here with some hardships.

Regardless of the film’s success, none of Rice’s different Interview novels had been tailored to movie till 2002, when the Cruise-less standalone sequel Queen of the Damned was launched. The franchise has since discovered new life on the small display screen with a collection adaptation of Interview with the Vampire and Rice’s different Vampire Chronicles novels. The collection has been wildly profitable for channel AMC, resulting in the launch of a shared universe dubbed Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe that up to now consists of two different collection — Mayfair Witches and The Talamasca, the latter of which is at the moment in manufacturing on its first season.

Supply: Selection

A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and starvation.

Director

Neil Jordan

Launch Date

November 11, 1994

Studio

Warner Bros

Forged

Tom Cruise , Brad Pitt , Antonio Banderas , Stephen Rea , Christian Slater , Kirsten Dunst

Runtime

123 minutes

Develop