AMC is building a franchise out of the books and characters from late author Anne Rice‘s Vampire Chronicles novels… but they don’t seem to be very interested in staying true to the characters or their stories. For example, it has just been announced that Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio) has been cast in the eight-part adaptation of the novel Interview with the Vampire, set to play the role of Daniel Molloy, the person who conducts the interview. In this mini-series, Daniel Molloy is “an investigative journalist nearing the end of his career who’s given a second chance at the interview of a lifetime.”
In Rice’s novel, Daniel Molloy was a young “reporter boy”. “A tall, slender young man with ashen blonde hair, violet eyes and ‘a student’s face’.” River Phoenix was cast to play the character in the 1994 film version of Interview with the Vampire, which was directed by Neil Jordan (watch it HERE). When Phoenix passed away before his scenes could be filmed, Christian Slater took over the role. Suitable casting choices for the character at the time. Eric Bogosian is 68 years old. Daniel Molloy returns in multiple novels after Interview with the Vampire, and the casting of Bogosian seems to indicate AMC isn’t going to tell his story as written by Rice. I have no issue with Bogosian and I’ll always remember his performance in Under Siege II: Dark Territory, but Daniel Molloy he isn’t.
Showrunner Rolin Jones provided the following statement:
In 1988, I hit my mom up for money three times to see Talk Radio in the movie theaters. I count Eric Bogosian as one of the half dozen artists who made me want to do this for a career. He is, for me, the dented car fender of the American Soul and I can think of no better actor/writer alive to play this role. I’m in total frothing geek mode about his casting.”
Rice’s novel centers on
the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac as he relates the story of his life to a reporter, in particular how he was turned into a vampire and then mentored by Lestat de Lioncourt.
The AMC version of Interview with the Vampire stars Sam Reid (The Newsreader) as Lestat de Lioncourt, Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) as Louis de Pointe du Lac, and Bailey Bass (Avatar 2) as Claudia. These three characters make up the dysfunctional vampire “family” at the heart of the story. Also in the cast are Assad Zaman (Small Axe) as Rashid, Louis’ companion in present day; newcomer Kalyne Coleman as Louis’ sister Grace; and Christian Robinson (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) as Levi, an upstanding Baptist who has won Grace’s heart.
Alan Taylor, who recently directed the Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark, is executive producing Interview with the Vampire and directing the first two episodes of the show. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul producer Mark Johnson is overseeing the building of the Vampire Chronicles franchise. Rolin Jones, co-creator and showrunner on the first season of the HBO series Perry Mason, is the creator, showrunner, and writer of the Interview with the Vampire series. Jones and Johnson executive produce the show alongside Taylor. Anne Rice’s son Christopher Rice is also on board as executive producer, and Rice herself will be receiving executive producer credit as well.
When I read Rice’s novels, I envisioned an epic television series that would faithfully bring her stories to the screen, but it’s becoming clear that’s not what I’m going to get from AMC.
Interview with the Vampire will air on AMC and AMC Plus sometime in 2022.