Interview with the Vampire (2022) / Characters

For the tropes applicable to the characters in the source material, see here.

Some spoilers for season 1 are unmarked, so venture with care.

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Vampires

Louis de Pointe du Lac

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/interview_with_the_vampire_2022_louis.jpg

The titular vampire of the series; Louis' recollection of his vampiric existence for a memoir is the foundation of the story.

'70s Hair: He sports an afro in 1973.
Abusive Parents: He doesn't harm Claudia for the most part, but there is one notable exception: in the Season 1 finale, he slams her against the armoire while tightly grasping her neck — which is identical to what Lestat did to her in the fifth episode.
Adaptational Hairstyle Change: In the novel, Louis has chin-length hair, whereas his TV counterpart has short hair.
Adaptational Job Change: The original book character was an indigo plantation (and slave) owner, but Louis in the series was a pimp who owned several brothels and gambling dens before City Ordinance 4118 closed down Storyville.
Adaptational Nationality: Downplayed Trope — Louis is always rooted in French Louisiana, but the details change. In the novel, Louis was born in France and moved to the French colony of Louisiana at a young age. He was turned into a vampire in 1791, when Louisiana was still under French rule, so he had spent his whole human lifespan as a French citizen. In the TV adaptation, Louis is an American who was born in New Orleans in 1877.
Adaptational Sexuality: In the Interview with the Vampire novel, Louis had feelings for a woman named Babette Freniere. His TV counterpart is exclusively gay.
Adaptational Superpower Change: Louis can't read minds in the source material, but the TV character is telepathic.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Because of the change to Louis' ethnicity on the show, he has brown eyes as a human, but as a nod to his book counterpart, his irises become green after his transition into a vampire.
Affectionate Nickname: He likes to call Daniel "boy" because the latter is much younger than he is, and Daniel was a 20-year-old Pretty Boy when they first met at Polynesian Mary's in 1973, with his youth being appealing to Louis, who started flirting with him shortly after Daniel entered the bar. Louis came up with it ("Get the boy whatever he wants") after Daniel rejected his initial attempt to use his diminutive "Danny" like the bartender does, and Daniel accepted being addressed in this manner. However, when they see each other again in 2022, Daniel is 69 years old, and he's offended ("I'm not your fucking boy") when Louis mentions the old nickname ("I think it best we start when our boy's had a rest"). Although Louis is careful not to bring it up again when Daniel is awake, he can't resist saying it after his guest falls asleep ("I think the medication has overwhelmed our boy"), and he means it fondly because he requests that Rashid fetch a blanket to keep Daniel "warm with his dreaming."
Age Lift: It's due to the Setting Update — the past scenes of the novel begin in 1791, but in the series, they start in 1910. The original book character was born in 1766 while the show's version was born in 1877, making the latter 111 years younger. Moreover, the TV iteration of Louis was turned into a vampire at age 33 instead of 25 like in the source material; this change was made to accommodate the fact that Jacob Anderson was 31 years old during Season 1's principal photography.
Babies Make Everything Better: While Claudia's impact on her parents' Common Law Marriage is quite different, fatherhood brings a great deal of fulfillment and meaning to Louis personally.
Louis: Claudia was... everything. I loved her unconditionally. All the noise, the chaos, the crisis of my former existence, silenced. The simple joy of her hand in mine.
Bad Liar: He's sometimes an unconvincing liar.
- In episode 4, Louis is unable to fool the mortician when he claims that his daughter has a fatal heart condition. The mortician senses that something isn't right, so he demands that they leave the premises.
- Later, Daniel sees right through Louis' fib about the whereabouts of Claudia's journals.
  Daniel: So, it begs the question, where were all these diaries in 1973?
  Louis: Scattered. One in New Orleans, another in Paris.
  Daniel: Bullshit.
- In episode 7, it's evident that Louis is being dishonest about what's in the unconscious MacPhail twin's bloodstream because he stutters on the "I": "I-I think it's the gin."
- In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Louis pretends that he has no idea who Lestat is even though Armand had recently determined through mind-reading that they do know each other.
  Armand: Because I do believe I felt some trepidation when the name Lestat was uttered.
  Louis: (scoffs) Who?
Beneath the Mask:
- Because he's a gay African American in 1910, he has to put on a different façade depending on whom he's interacting with, and having to do this on a daily basis is detrimental to his mental health. Lestat is infuriated that Louis is whittling himself away by pretending to be something he's not.
  Lestat: This primitive country has picked you clean. It has shackled you in permanent exile. Every room you enter, every hat you are forced to wear — the stern landlord, the deferential businessman, the loyal son — all these roles you conform to and none of them your true nature. What rage you must feel as you choke on your sorrow.
- Towards the end of the honeymoon phase of their relationship, Louis was concealing from Lestat the full extent of how uncomfortable he was with vampirism.
  Louis: And I was still very much under [Lestat]'s power. We would drain the tenor for hours that night. Lestat completely enthralled. Myself, pretending to be. Afraid to disappoint. Lestat was wrong. I was never going to be a natural. I was never going to savor the aftertaste. I was a shame-ridden second, a... a fumbling, despondent killer, a botched vampire.
Bookworm: He often reads books, which is his sole pastime. When he's severely depressed in the fifth episode, reading is his only source of comfort because he buries himself (both literally and figuratively) in French literature. By 2022, he has followed Daniel's journalistic career for the past 49 years, which includes reading the latter's autobiography.
The Caretaker: Louis is responsible for his mentally ill younger brother Paul after promising their dying father he would look after him.
Childhood Friend Romance: Louis and Jonah are Childhood Friends, but their bond becomes much more intimate after they begin having sex when Jonah is 16 years old. As gay African American men in the late 19th century, their longtime connection means that they trusted each other and felt safe exploring their feelings and sexuality in an era of profound racism and when homosexuality was punishable by law. Although things cooled down between them after Jonah moved away for work, when they see each other again in 1917, their camaraderie remains easy and close despite the passage of time (Louis is 39 years old ^note, so his romantic affection for Jonah has lasted for at least 20 years). In fact, Lestat instantly becomes jealous the moment he sees Louis cheerily greeting Jonah because he can sense the underlying sparks between them. Not surprisingly, Louis and Jonah later share a moonlight tryst at the bayou, but their relationship doesn't go any further because Jonah will soon head off to France for World War I.
Childhood Friends: Louis and Jonah met as kids and were best friends while they were growing up. Even though Jonah later left New Orleans to find employment, when they cross paths again years later, the warmth of their rapport is still evident.
Closet Gay: He had to stay closeted in 1910 New Orleans, and notes how while you could be many things openly then, a gay black man wasn't one of them.
Louis: My business and my raised religion were at odds, and the, uh... latencies within me, well, I beat those back with a lie I told myself about myself — that I was a red-blooded son of the South, seeking ass before absolution.
Daniel: And you maintained this delusion how exactly?
Louis: A particular woman who worked for the competition.
- While he admits to having pretended to like girls to Claudia, it seems he never had any consistent female companionship outside of Lily, presumably because his family — especially Paul — would expect him to marry her. After Grace's wedding, Paul asks if he had an interest in a woman named Hazel whom Louis danced too close with, implying he wanted to set them up, but Louis doesn't even recognize her name.
Color-Coded Characters: In 2022, his wardrobe consists exclusively of black and grey apparel.
Despair Event Horizon: He loses the will to live after his younger brother Paul (whom Louis "loved more than anyone on Earth" and promised their dying father to take care of him) commits suicide. Overwhelmed by the profound loss and feeling like a total failure, Louis undergoes a nervous breakdown while confessing his sins and exclaims in anguish "I wanna die!" Lestat grants him his wish by murdering Louis as a human and then turning him into a vampire.
Disowned Sibling: In the fifth episode, Louis is disowned by his sister Grace because she no longer recognizes him as the brother whom she grew up with ("...whoever you are that took my Louis"). As far as she's concerned, the Louis that she knew is dead to her, and she even arranges to have her brother's name and date of death (she chose Oct. 18, 1930, which is presumably the day of their final meeting) inscribed on the family mausoleum.
Doting Parent: He positively adores Claudia, loving her more than anything, which really pisses Lestat off. Louis can be willfully blind to her worst qualities, and is sometimes overly-indulgent, which leads to trouble later on, but he sincerely loves and wants the best for her. Until it comes time to actually kill Lestat.
Drowning My Sorrows: In the series premiere, a forlorn Louis drinks from his flask after Paul's funeral and orders a Sazerac at the Fairplay Saloon.
Even the Guys Want Him: The bisexual Lestat is enthralled by Louis and praises his good looks, telling him that he's "a handsome man" with "such a pretty head" and a "beautiful face."
Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: By the time of the after-party feast, the eyeliner Louis had worn at the Mardi Gras ball has become so smudged that it resembles a thick layer of black eyeshadow, which adds a dramatic flair to his green vampire eyes. Although Louis typically isn't cruel towards his human prey, being blood-starved for the past three nights means that his vampiric urges completely override any empathy he might have felt, so Louis indulges in excessive violence by ripping out a man's lower jaw before exsanguinating him.
Eye Colour Change: As part of his transformation into a vampire, his brown eyes become green.
Fantastically Indifferent: As a mortal, he was curious about Lestat's Telepathy and Time Stands Still abilities, but he was otherwise unfazed by these impossible feats, believing them to be mere parlor tricks that Lestat had picked up in France. These supernatural skills should've been a dead giveaway to Louis that his new friend wasn't human, yet this thought didn't cross his mind.
First Love: While not explicitly stated, it's very likely that Louis is Jonah's first love because they're Childhood Friends who developed a Childhood Friend Romance during their late adolescence, especially when one factors in the racism and the homophobia of the late 19th century. Although their paths diverged for many years, their feelings for each other are still apparent when they meet again in 1917 when Louis is nearly middle-aged, which demonstrates how intense their emotional attachment was during their youth because they're both still carrying a torch at least two decades later.
Gayngst: When he was human, he struggled with his homosexuality because same-sex relationships were unlawful in the late 19th and early 20th century, not to mention his Catholic faith deems it as a grave sin. His internalized homophobia ran so deep that he was in total denial about his attraction to men.
Louis: It bears repeating, I did not consider myself a homosexual man at the time. I mean, I've had experiences. Guilt, shame, floating-on-a-sea-of-vodka type encounters.
Guyliner: He sports eye makeup at the Mardi Gras ball to add authenticity to his 18th-century French period costume and powdered wig.
Has a Type: He's enticed by men with curly hair: he has fallen in love with Jonah, Lestat, and Armand, plus he flirted with Daniel in 1973.
The Heart: He takes on this role in the later episodes of Season 1. Lestat and Claudia would've tried to kill each other much earlier if it weren't for their love for Louis. From 1937-1940, Lestat and Claudia can barely tolerate being in the same room together, but they both suffer through it for Louis, who desperately wants all three of them to be a happy family again. Louis is the peacekeeper in their household because he attempts to diffuse some of the conflicts between the other two; although he's not wholly successful, Lestat and Claudia's belligerence towards each other would be far worse without Louis being present.
Hide Your Otherness: He doesn't want his family to know that he's a vampire, so he dons sunglasses when he visits them at the mansion to conceal his green vampire eyes (they were brown when he was human).
Househusband: He's the "feminine" partner in the Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple dynamic with Lestat, so his role within their household is fairly similar to a traditional housewife. Louis is extremely devoted to their vampire daughter Claudia, with a doting parenting style that could be described as "motherly," and raising her is the greatest joy in his life. Episode 5 suggests that their townhouse becomes a Mess of Woe after Claudia abandons them because Louis is too depressed to do any housework ("...ignoring all other duties of the role Claudia once mocked me for — the unhappy housewife"). In episode 7, after Lestat kills a man with blood cancer, he orders Louis to tidy up ("Clean up the mess and come to coffin").
Idle Rich: After he loses all of his businesses thanks to City Ordinance 4118, he can still afford to live in the lap of luxury without a job because "From 1912 to 1917, I made a mountain of money, enough to retire and be buried like a pharaoh."
Immune to Bullets: He doesn't even flinch when he's shot twice by Alderman Fenwick, and the only thing that's damaged is his chic purple suit.
I Want My Beloved to Be Fashionable: During Louis and Lestat's Falling-in-Love Montage, one of their dates includes Louis (who is a Sharp-Dressed Man) bringing Lestat (whose outmoded garments from Europe are relics of the 19th century) to his tailor so that the Frenchman will have trendy new suits befitting an upper-class man in 1910 America. Costume designer Carol Cutshall has stated in this interview that Lestat learning from Louis how to modernize his attire is an early source of bonding in their budding romance.
Cutshall: When they first meet, they have very distinct looks, and then Louis pulls Lestat into the present day. They have this moment — it's like their first honeymoon moment — of their friendship where Lestat is very influenced by Louis' fashion and he's going to Louis' tailor. They really feel in sync.
Kill the Ones You Love: In the climax of the Season 1 finale, Louis lacerates Lestat's throat to escape from his lover's Domestic Abuse and to eliminate the threat to Claudia's life (Lestat had conspired to murder their vampire daughter). However, Louis is still in love with his (ex-)boyfriend, so he prevents Claudia from burning Lestat's body, which means the latter is Not Quite Dead.
Late Coming Out: Because of both institutionalized and internalized homophobia, he only accepted his homosexuality at age 33 ^note when he entered into a committed relationship with Lestat.
Lesbian Vampire: Gender-Inverted Trope. He's a gay man and a vampire.
Living Lie Detector: He can usually access Claudia's thoughts (unless she puts up a Psychic Block Defense), so in episode 5, he knows her serial killing spree is far worse than how she's trying to depict it.
Claudia: (pretending to sound feeble) I didn't mean harm, a-and the bodies are just preten—
Louis: Stop lying, Claudia!
Love Confessor: In Season 1, he never once said "I love you" to Lestat, so it's only when he's being interviewed by Daniel in 2022 that he admits, "I loved Lestat with a wounded [heart]."
Messy Hair:
- He's normally meticulous with his appearance, but when he's wallowing in the throes of depression in episode 5, his hair is disheveled.
- In a Season 2 production still,◊ his curls are in disarray.
The Muse: On the sleeve of the phonograph record of "Come to Me", Lestat's first composition in a century, his Valentine Day's message is "For Louis, My Muse!" Louis is Lestat's Second Love.
Oblivious to Love: In 1910, Louis (a Closet Gay) had no idea that Lestat was romantically interested in him throughout most of their friendship; to be fair, Lestat couldn't be too brazen with his wooing due to institutionalized homophobia, yet Paul was able to sense right away that Lestat desired Louis as much more than a friend. In 2022, Louis reflects on these events and now recognizes that Lestat's pursuit of him was predatory in nature.
Louis: I was being hunted. And I was completely unaware it was happening.
Pretty Boy: He's a slim, very handsome man with fine features (which includes Puppy-Dog Eyes and a long neck◊) who can sometimes appear boyish,◊ sports a small goatee, and dresses in very dapper clothes. This results in Love at First Sight from Lestat, as he's smitten by Louis' good looks, complimenting Louis about them at length with adjectives like "beautiful" and "pretty" (plus being biracial only attracts him more). When Claudia is rescued from a burning house by Louis, she believes that he's a beautiful Black angel. In 2022, Louis' movements are very graceful and fluid, with his gait being reminiscent of a retired dancer's.
Protectorate: Since at least 1973, Louis is protected by his boyfriend Armand.
Psychic Powers: He's telepathic like all vampires, has pyrokinesis, and he can also control people's limbs such as when he causes Daniel's arm to spasm uncontrollably.
Puppy-Dog Eyes: He urges Lestat to turn Claudia into a vampire, but Lestat turns him down because "Elle est trop jeune" ("She is too young"). Louis then gazes at Lestat with his soulful, pleading eyes while touching his lover's chest and whispering "Please" twice. Lestat is so moved by how vulnerable and pretty Louis looks that he caresses his boyfriend's face before proceeding with the Emergency Transformation even though it goes against the vampire rules.
Race Lift: In both the book and show, Louis is a Louisiana Creole. The original character grew up on a plantation near New Orleans while his TV counterpart was born and raised in the city proper, and they both speak English and French comfortably. However, he was fully Caucasian in the source material, whereas his TV iteration is mixed-race (African and French ancestry).
The Scapegoat: Florence blames him for Paul's suicide even though Louis didn't do or say anything that would make Paul jump off the roof.
Second Love: Louis is the second person that Lestat has fallen in love with after Nicolas, who died a long time ago.
Lestat: Nicki passed on after he and I parted ways. It took me over a century to try again. [looks at Louis]
Straight Gay: He shows no stereotypical sign of the fact he's gay before it's revealed, nor afterward.
Sunglasses at Night: After his transition into a vampire, Louis always sports sunglasses during the evenings when he visits his family at the mansion to hide his vampiric green irises (his eyes used to be brown when he was human).
Twofer Token Minority: He's both gay and a black Creole.
Uke: He is the more submissive, placid, and prettier partner in his relationship with Lestat, and is usually the bottom when they have sex. While Lestat is only slightly taller (178 cm / 5'10" vs. 175 cm / 5'9"), the Age Lift and Race Lift denote power in other ways — Lestat has far more vampire power (as an older vampire) as well as more societal privilege (as a white man).
Unkempt Beauty: In Lestat's eyes, Louis is so gorgeous and irresistible that even when the latter isn't looking his best (such as when he's partly charred by the sun in episode 2, when he's lounging around all day in his pyjamas with Messy Hair in episode 5, and when he's drenched in dirty water from head to toe after swimming the Mississippi River — which is extremely polluted — in episode 6), Lestat is still very eager to have sex with him.
Unreliable Narrator: A consistent theme throughout the series. The interview in question is actually the second time Louis has spoken to Daniel about his past, and his narrative is much more introspective and kinder to Lestat than it was in 1973, although with a more mature understanding of the flaws in their relationship, whereas his younger self is far more angry and bitter. This doesn't necessarily mean his interview in 2022 is completely accurate, though — he frequently rationalizes his mistreatment/abuse at the hands of Lestat and why he gave his Domestic Abuser another chance. When Lestat is allowed back into the home in episode 6, Louis believes the major work to be done is mending the bond between Claudia and Lestat. In reality, most of the problems in the household arise again from Lestat's lying and controlling behaviour. The tension comes from both Claudia and Lestat being well aware the latter refuses to change and both wanting to get Louis away from the other. This is integrated into the story on occasion — when Daniel asks Louis if it was raining during his encounter with Jonah, he attempts to recall the event either with or without rain pouring from the sky, and then confesses that he doesn't remember.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the fifth episode, Louis dejectedly wanders around New Orleans for years sending out telepathic messages meant for Claudia, in the hopes that she will hear him apologize and return home. The messages end up reaching an unintended target: a vampire called Bruce, who becomes aware of and intrigued by the existence of Claudia, and begins to stalk her, culminating in a heavily implied sexual assault.
Vegetarian Vampire: By 2022, Louis has become one, only feeding on animals, donor blood, or volunteers like Damek and Rashid. He claims not to have killed any human since 2000. Louis also had a stint of vegetarianism from 1917 to 1937 where he limited his diet to animal blood (the one blip during this time period is when he drained Alderman Fenwick to death, a racist Asshole Victim). However, it ended when Lestat and Claudia convinced him to resume eating humans after they criticized Louis for his air of superiority for being a vegetarian. In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Louis was a part-time vegetarian by the time he arrived in Paris in the 1940s because he explained to Armand that "I feast human every other night."

Lestat de Lioncourt

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/interview_with_the_vampire_2022_lestat.jpg

Played by: Sam Reid

A French vampire who kickstarts the plot by falling in love with Louis and giving him the Dark Gift.

Abusive Parents: Although he seems fond of Claudia at first, it becomes clear that he mainly sees her as a means to an end to keep Louis by his side, and when she no longer fulfills this purpose, he doesn't feel much responsibility towards her. After the incident with Charlie in episode 4, he's through playing "Uncle Les" and doesn't hide his disdain for her, being physically rough with her and outright calling her "a mistake." In episode 6, he threatens to kill her if she runs away from home again, and in episode 7, he plans to murder her so that Lestat has no more competition for Louis' affection.
Adaptational Villainy: In The Vampire Chronicles and the 1994 movie, Lestat is self-centered, impulsive and ruthless, and while he often lashed out at Louis and Claudia verbally, he was significantly less abusive than in the TV adaptation. Sam Reid's Lestat is considerably more narcissistic, manipulative, vain, plus he's a Domestic Abuser towards Louis and an Abusive Parent towards Claudia, to the point where his verbal abuse is more explicit and cruel, and he actually physically harms them. In the books and film, Lestat legitimately loved Claudia, even after she turned on him; in the show, he had a slight fondness for Claudia, but after she endangers their family with a police raid and reveals his affair with Antoinette, Lestat developed a deep mutual hatred with Claudia. When Lestat laments not to kill Claudia in the novel, it is as much regret for causing her suffering as anger, whereas in the TV series, he's just a Jealous Parent who hates her for trying to steal Louis from him.
Adaptation Personality Change: In the books, Lestat is subject to Characterization Marches On. Lestat in Interview with the Vampire (the first novel and the basis for the first season) is markedly different from Lestat in the rest of The Vampire Chronicles. The TV show deals with this discrepancy with Backported Development: rewriting the events of that book in a way that's more inline with Lestat's later characterization. It combines his original IWTV role as a villain whom Louis and Claudia must escape with Lestat's future enigmatic persona of "the brat prince," which results in a charming but abusive partner in the TV iteration.
Rolin Jones: Fans [of the books] will know when I speak of the difference between the Lestat who is in books two through 12, and the Lestat who is in book one. Anne, obviously, hadn't written the Lestat that she ended up landing on when she wrote Interview with the Vampire. We're building a universe. We actually have more knowledge than Anne did when she wrote Interview because we have the follow-up books.
Affably Evil: He's extremely charming, well-mannered, charismatic and fun to be around, with a magnetic personality that's near impossible not to be taken in by. He's also a brutal and remorseless murderer who treats those close to him terribly.
Affectionate Nickname: In the second episode, we learn that his nickname for Louis is "Saint Louis," which is a Call-Back to the first episode where Lestat explains that he originally intended to start a new life for himself in St. Louis, but ended up staying in New Orleans because he experienced Love at First Sight when he saw Louis. He also calls Louis "mon cher" ^note multiple times, and once Claudia joins their family, he calls her by various pet names like "ma petite" ^note and "ma chérie" ^notethe feminine form of "my darling". Furthermore, in a 5-second Season 2 TV spot, the hallucination of Lestat greets Louis with "Bonjour mon amour" ^note"Hello, my love", and because this manifestation of his ex-lover is based on Louis' subconscious, it suggests that Lestat had referred to him as "mon amour" when they were together.
Age Insecurity: He's vain, so he doesn't like it when others bring up his age. He's offended when Louis points out that he's unable to relate to a teenager's mindset because he's too old (Louis' indirect phrasing while avoiding the dreaded o-word is "Tu as oublié ta jeunesse!" ^note). Lestat also does the vampire equivalent of claiming that he's 39 years old when he's actually 40.
Claudia: How old are you again, Uncle Les?
Louis: 160—
Lestat: 159.
Age Lift: Although his birth month and year are the same on the show as it is in the novels, what is different in the TV adaptation is that Lestat was turned into a vampire at age 33-34 (depending on the month) instead of 20 like his book counterpart. This change was made to accommodate the fact that Sam Reid was 34 years old during Season 1's principal photography.
Alas, Poor Villain: Although he's a ruthless murderer and an abusive partner, Lestat not fighting back as Louis slits his throat in episode 7, only saying that he is happy that it was Louis with him at the end, is heartbreaking.
Berserk Button: Mentioning God, Jesus or Christianity in general is a major one for Lestat, who's a Hollywood Atheist with a grudge against his raised religion. When Paul brings it up, Lestat drops his manners and gets genuinely angry, and he later becomes furious at Louis for trying to seek salvation through his faith. Lestat's response is to burn the pews at St. Augustine Church and murder the two priests present in grisly fashion.
Card-Carrying Villain: He has long since embraced his evil nature and is under no illusions about being anything but a ferocious killer.
Closet Gay: He's bisexual, and unlike Louis, he isn't ashamed of his attraction to men, but he's cautious about not appearing too lovey-dovey around Louis to avoid scrutiny. He courts Louis as a friend, and later deflects Paul's homophobic insinuation about their relationship with a lie. While waiting for the Don Pasquale performance to start, Lestat's pinky finger discreetly caresses Louis' in lieu of actually Holding Hands; that brief moment of physical contact is the upper limit of what Lestat dares to do with his boyfriend in terms of public displays of affection. After Deputy Habersham warns them that "crimes against nature" carry a five-year prison sentence, it's Lestat who tells Louis that they should lay low while they're under suspicion. At Jackson Square, Lestat silently mouths the words "I love you" to Louis because it's too risky to even whisper it, let alone say it out loud.
Closet Key: The handsome and charming Lestat is this for Louis, who was in denial of his homosexuality until Lestat seduced him. Unlike his prior "floating-on-a-sea-of-vodka type encounters" with other men, Louis wasn't drunk when he and Lestat made love, and he was forced to concede that he had developed romantic feelings for Lestat. After their Relationship Upgrade, Louis stops pretending that he's straight.
Consummate Liar: He's adept at deception. It ranges from something very simple like lying by omission to something very elaborate like faking the death of his mistress (the "evidence" Lestat leaves behind is convincing enough to the police that her demise is reported on the front page of a New Orleans newspaper). Claudia notes that "It's [Lestat's] nature to lie" and "He's the father of lies."
Crazy Jealous Guy: Lestat has been infatuated with Louis from the instant he felt Love at First Sight. He turned him into a vampire to be his lover and companion for all of eternity. This leads him to be obsessive and possessive of Louis, as he goes to extreme lengths to try to either keep him or win him back.
Deadpan Snarker: True to his literary counterpart and Tom Cruise's portrayal, Lestat has a witty remark for every occasion, particularly in regards to Louis and his angst about his new vampiric nature.
Depraved Bisexual: He's a bisexual vampire who's unrepentant in feeding on humans (usually to the point of killing them), who seduces and turns Louis because he wants an eternal lover. He's not above a little Murder the Hypotenuse, being the possessive, jealous type, including having killed a prostitute he'd also slept with because Louis used her as The Beard, to isolate him so they could get together. Lestat later beats Louis viciously when he's begun to defy him. After they reconcile, Lestat callously forces his mistress Antoinette out of her own bedroom so that he and Louis can have sex there.
Drag Queen: For the Krewe of Raj float during the Mardi Gras festivity, Lestat is dolled up as Marie-Antoinette (so he's a French drag queen who is costumed as a French queen), complete with makeup, wig, sparkly tiara and necklace, a giant bedazzled frilled collar, Fluffy Fashion Feathers, a fur-trimmed cape, High-Class Gloves, a gown and a corset (which is worn backwards for some reason).
Drama Queen: He's a Large Ham with a volatile personality who likes to raise a ruckus whenever the mood strikes him. In a podcast, Sam Reid delineates his character's histrionic temperament.
Interviewer: There are times where we're almost getting the Drag Queen-level of drama from Lestat.
Reid: Absolutely, yeah.
Interviewer: He wants you and everybody in a ten-mile radius to know when he's mad.
Reid: Yeah, absolutely. It's drama, he loves drama. [...] If he wants to create a bit of drama, he'll create a bit of drama. If he wants to be really seductive in a moment and then flip it and be really ugly, he will. He does what he wants, whenever he wants, and he'll make sure that everyone is watching him do it because he knows he looks great doing it. He's a super vain guy.
- In the extended Season 2 trailer, Armand compares Lestat's unpredictable behaviour and turbulent mindset to a hurricane.
  Armand: There was no scripting Lestat. You cannot script a hurricane.
Europeans Are Kinky: By the standards of 1910s America, Lestat (a Frenchman) being a bisexual libertine would be regarded as kinky, and he identifies his sexuality as "Non-discriminating." He lives in a Transparent Closet with Louis (a black Creole), and being a same-sex and interracial couple was scandalous at a time when homosexuality was a crime and interracial marriage was illegal in most states, including Louisiana. Not surprisingly, people gossip about Louis' "pale lover" and "the weird goings-on at their Sodomite townhouse" behind their backs.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Based on his dinner conversation with Florence, the evil vampire Lestat adores his mother and fondly talks about her ("...she gave me every advantage in life as a young man: my first mastiff, first flintlock rifle, the means to make my way to Paris").
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's a malevolent vampire who cherishes his mother, his First Love Nicolas and his Second Love Louis.
Even Evil Has Standards: He's a merciless vampire who disapproves of rape, stating to Claudia that what Bruce did to her "was in very poor taste." However, this doesn't make Lestat any less evil than Bruce because he's threatening Claudia in this scene, and as terrible as her experience was with Bruce, Lestat assures her that what he'll do to her is worse. ("I won't snap your leg, defile your pocket, and zoom off on a motorbike. I'll turn your bones to dust.")
Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry:
- He frequently adorns his fingers with large, ostentatious rings because he enjoys being flashy and flaunting his old world affluence.
- While performing on the Krewe of Raj float, Lestat sports a shimmering tiara and necklace as part of his Marie-Antoinette Drag Queen getup in order to appear more queenly.
Evil Is Petty: He's capable of truly staggering cruelty over minor slights, most notably when he mentally and physically tortures an opera singer for hours before finally killing him. What did the man do to earn Lestat's wrath? He got a few notes wrong during the show. Claudia even lampshades it in the season one finale when she proudly explains how she got him to drink arsenic-laced blood. She knew who he would really target and enjoy killing for a minor slight.
Evil Redhead: Downplayed Trope; he has strawberry blonde hair (so he's not a straight-up ginger), and is a ruthless killer.
Evil Sounds Deep: Sam Reid's exceptionally smooth, baritone voice perfectly suits Lestat's evil vampire nature, as it makes him seem all the more menacing.
Frozen Fashion Sense: When he arrives in New Orleans, his outfit is noticeably out-of-date compared to the American men's fashion of 1910, like he's still stuck in the previous century. Louis (a snazzy dresser) later helps him to update his wardrobe.
Lestat: New to the... the New World, I am.
Louis: That explains the clothes.
Lestat: (chuckles) A 19th-century man at heart, yes.
French Jerk: He's from France, and is a murderer and an abusive partner and parent. He also engages in Cultural Posturing; he views America as a "primitive country," looks down on banjo music (which originated among African Americans), and believes New Orleans was better when it was reigned by the French.
Guyliner:
- He sports eye makeup at the Mardi Gras ball to add authenticity to his 18th-century French period costume and powdered wig.
- In two Season 2 trailers, his eyes are rimmed with eyeliner while acting in a play at a French theatre during the late 18th century.
Has a Type: When it comes to men, Lestat has a weakness for those of "infinite beauty and sensitivity," which applies to both his First Love Nicolas and his Second Love Louis.
Hates Being Alone: The following quote is from a scene in episode 2:
Lestat: There is one thing about being a vampire that I most fear above all else... And that is loneliness. You can't imagine the emptiness... A void stretching out for decades at a time. You take this feeling away from me, Louis. We must stay together and take precaution, and never part.
Hates Their Parent: Lestat detests his father, whom he characterizes as a vulgar man with a temper, for beating and starving him when he was a boy in order to dissuade him from joining the clergy.
The Heckler: Because Lestat is frustrated by Louis' decision to become a Vegetarian Vampire, he interrupts Jelly Roll Morton's piano playing at the Azalea to cause a scene in order to rile up Louis, and the crowd doesn't appreciate the disruption to their entertainment.
Lestat: Mr. Morton, you have played the same melody, the very same way, for two weeks now. Your talent is immense, but your mind is elsewhere.
Man: Think you could do better, Jack?
Lestat: Well, I'm not being paid a small fortune on top of that tip jar to perform. My skills are irrelevant.
Morton: People didn't come to hear you jabber, Mr. Lioncourt.
Lestat: Well, they didn't come here to hear you play, either. Otherwise, you'd be in a concert hall and there'd be fewer prostitutes!
Man: Shut the hell up and let [Morton] play!
(Lestat stands up from his seat and is about to head towards the stage)
Louis: (grabs Lestat's right arm to stop him) This ain't your kinda music.
Lestat: You can pretend you're a vegetarian. I can pretend the fool.
The Hedonist: He's determined to treat his immortal existence as one never-ending party with all the pleasures he can have.
Hollywood Atheist: After having been educated by monks, Lestat had lost all faith in God when his father and brothers kidnapped him from the monastery as he'd wanted to join the clergy, which they beat and starved him for, saying Jesus never coming to his aid caused him to turn his back on religion (although becoming a vampire probably didn't help later). He is shown as contemptuous of Christianity when he's asked. In the climax of the pilot, he denies God exists in front of Louis, a Catholic.
Lestat: I can give you that death you begged your feeble, blind, degenerate, nonexistent god for.
Idle Rich: He's so incredibly wealthy that he doesn't have to work, and Alderman Fenwick (who's an affluent politician) notes that Lestat has a "seemingly endless supply of capital."
Jealous Parent: An Exaggerated Trope, escalating all the way to Murder the Hypotenuse. The couple adopt Claudia as "a band-aid for a shitty marriage." In vampire terms, she is Lestat's daughter because he's her maker, but Louis is the primary caregiver, more of a parent to her than Lestat is. This culminates in a scene between the three in episode 5 with Lestat and Claudia both simultaneously begging Louis to choose them over the other. Before Louis can make a choice, Lestat resorts to domestic violence. During a calm "honeymoon" phase in the cycle of abuse, a Hope Spot follows, with Louis trying to balance the two, and asking each to make more of an effort with the other. He wants the three of them to be a family. Lestat and Claudia each want a family, too — but a two-person, Louis-and-me version, without the other. As Lestat puts it, "We endure each other for Louis's happiness." By the end of episode 6, Claudia wants to kill her abusive, controlling father Lestat so she and Louis can be free. Lestat has likewise concluded that Claudia ruined his relationship with Louis, and his solution is Offing the Offspring.
Jerkass Has a Point: He refuses to turn Claudia at first, saying that she's too young. Considering the troubles that he and Louis face in trying to control a new vampire with the appetite and metabolism of a teenager, and the torment Claudia experiences when she comes to realize that she'll be trapped in a body on the cusp of adolescence forever, Lestat had a point.
Kick the Dog: All the time. Lestat is basically incapable of going for extended periods of time without engaging in acts of cruelty, and those close to him are not spared from his abusive nature. Poor Claudia usually gets the worst of this treatment because Lestat often goes out of his way to make sure she knows just how much he loathes her for intruding on his and Louis' relationship, and being stuck with her indefinitely.
Lesbian Vampire: Gender-Inverted Trope. He's a male bisexual vampire.
Living Lie Detector: In the second episode, he informs his new fledgling Louis (who doesn't yet know how to tap into his vampiric Telepathy) that Finn is deceiving him.
Lestat: He's lying, you know.
Louis: He'll figure I'm a bean counter.
Lestat: No, he wants the job so he can steal from you. Overcharge for drinks and women. Not enough for you to notice, but enough to make him "good extra," he calls it.
Louis: And you know that 'cause you got in his head just now?
Lestat: Vampires can read minds, mon cher ^note.
Love at First Sight: He's utterly entranced when he first sees Louis, staring intensely at him. Lestat later discloses that he was captivated by Louis' beauty and noticed the sadness embedded in his features.
Lestat: The first time I laid eyes on you, your beautiful face, I saw that sorrow. I did not know how it got there or why it was so voluminous. I can take away that sorrow, Louis.
Love Makes You Crazy: By the Season 1 finale, Lestat is no longer thinking rationally when it comes to his boyfriend Louis, with Lestat somehow deluding himself that Louis will finally love him with all of his heart by severely restricting the latter's freedom. Lestat now treats Louis — a black man who deeply resents being oppressed by white society — as his Property of Love and keeps him confined in a Gilded Cage. Any sensible person would recognize that reducing Louis to a mere love slave would cause him to loathe Lestat even more (Louis has already contemplated suicide as a means to escape from Lestat's Domestic Abuse). Louis' lack of personal autonomy is further worsened when Lestat (who's promiscuous) suddenly foists a Vampire's Harem structure upon their relationship without consulting Louis (who's a monogamist) beforehand — Lestat clearly doesn't care about Louis' opinions or feelings on the matter, and is essentially behaving like a slave owner whose word is law. If Louis being forced into the position of Lestat's male Top Wife wasn't bad enough, Lestat also intends to murder their vampire daughter Claudia (whom Louis adores) because he views her as an impediment to possessing the entirety of Louis' love. It's no wonder that Louis is willing to kill his psycho lover in order to regain his freedom and keep Claudia safe, which is the complete opposite of what Lestat wants.
Muse Abuse: It's only after he mangles Louis into a broken, bloodied heap that he's inspired to write his first song in a hundred years. The end result is "Come to Me", which Lestat gives to Louis as both a Valentine Day's present and an Apology Gift.
Never My Fault: He is seemingly incapable of taking blame for literally anything.
Performance Artist: In two Season 2 trailers and a TV spot, he performs onstage in a French play during the late 18th century, and he fits the camp stereotype for male actors because he's a flamboyant bisexual Drama Queen.
Pimped-Out Cape:
- As part of his Marie-Antoinette Drag Queen act, his costume includes a fur-trimmed cape to reinforce the French queen's royal status.
- In a Season 2 promotional image,◊ Lestat is arrayed in a red velvet cloak lined with fur. (Because his First Love Nicolas will appear in the second season, this cape is the "Wolfkiller" cloak that Nicolas gifted to Lestat after the latter single-handedly killed eight wolves.) When combined with the rest of Lestat's 18th-century finery, it strongly suggests that he's an aristocrat, which is book canon.
Proud Beauty: He brags about his "astonishing jawline" during the car ride with Louis in episode 2, and in general takes great pride in his appearance and eternal youth.
Second Love: Lestat is Louis' second love, the first man he has developed romantic feelings for since his childhood sweetheart Jonah, who had to move away from New Orleans to find work.
Seme: He is the more dominant, aggressive, and conventionally handsome partner in his relationship with Louis, and is usually the top when they have sex. While Lestat is only slightly taller (178 cm / 5'10" vs. 175 cm / 5'9"), the Age Lift and Race Lift denote power in other ways — Lestat has far more vampire power (as an older vampire) as well as more societal privilege (as a white man).
Sore Loser: When he loses his first chess game against Claudia in episode 6, he throws a temper tantrum with a Foreign-Language Tirade and a Desk Sweep of Rage, which sends the chess pieces flying across the room.
Super Power Lottery: He has all the basic vampire powers of strength, speed and telepathy, but he also possesses the cloud gift, a rare ability amongst vampires that allows them to fly.
Too Much Alike: Louis and Claudia are the close ones — they look like blood kin, they share a telepathic bond, and Louis has a far greater parental role to her. But in personality, she's more like her maker Lestat — namely they're both vicious in a way Louis almost never is. This is also the reason they butt heads frequently.
Louis: In many ways, they were more like each other than they wanted to admit. They both sought out weakness. They reveled in the exploitation of it, and they romped with joy as I played audience to their joyless exchanges.
Wicked Cultured: In between murdering people, he has a taste for the finer things in life such as nice clothes, expensive nights on the town and evenings at the opera.
Yandere: As a romantic partner, Lestat is a toxic cocktail of Stalker with a Crush, Crazy Jealous Guy, Green-Eyed Monster, Domestic Abuser, Love Makes You Crazy and Murder the Hypotenuse. As Sam Reid elucidates in this interview:
Reid: [Lestat] is a vampire, and murder is his love language. [...] And I think this is the really key thing to Lestat is that he loves first. So he falls in love with people, [...] and then the way that he goes about acquiring that love and the return of the love is sadistic, violent and obsessive. And I think that's unfortunately his tragic flaw. [...] Well, I think he's afraid of somebody not loving him for who he is, really, so he acts out and pushes them. He forces them to love him.

Claudia

Played by: Bailey Bass (Season 1); Delainey Hayles (Season 2)

Turned into a vampire at age 14 by Lestat at Louis' request, Claudia is raised as their daughter.

Ain't Too Proud to Beg: She only does this twice. The first is when she implores Lestat to save her First Love with an Emergency Transformation (this is impossible because Charlie is already dead, but she later requests that Lestat make her a vampire companion to love). The second is her tearfully pleading for Lestat to let Louis go whilst he is violently abusing him. Both times are in tragic vain, and Claudia never begs Lestat for anything again.
Adaptation Dye-Job: As a consequence of Race Lift, Claudia is a brunette with brown eyes (although they gain a reddish-orange hue after she's turned) in the series instead of a blonde with blue irises like in the novel.
Age Lift: An Enforced Trope due to New Orleans child labor laws. Claudia is played by Bailey Bass, who was 18 during the filming of Season 1. invokedDawson Casting only goes so far, so the show's Claudia was born in 1903 and turned at age 14, in contrast with her book counterpart who was born in 1789 and turned at age 5. This makes the plotline about her sexuality less squicky, and gives her Not Growing Up Sucks plotline a different feel to it.
Antagonistic Offspring: She has held a grudge against her vampire father Lestat ever since his cold-hearted manner of dealing with the Charlie incident. Her abhorrence grows exponentially after Lestat mangles Louis until his body is broken, bloodied and bruised, and she becomes belligerent towards her maker from that moment onwards. After Lestat coerces Claudia to go back home when she tries to flee from his Gilded Cage by stowing away on a train, it's the last straw for her, and she's determined to liberate herself and Louis by murdering Lestat.
Batman Gambit: She tricks Lestat into drinking arsenic-laced blood by giving the man she knew he would gleefully target for a previous slight. It works flawlessly.
Bookworm: As a fledgling vampire, she loves reading so much that she sometimes "talks to books" (i.e. writes in her diary) because she regards them as her friends. When she's older, she travels to numerous university libraries for seven years to do extensive research on the origin of vampires. In the sixth episode, she studies the European cities that she plans to visit while in her coffin.
Brainy Brunette: She's brown-haired, and she displays her intelligence in ways beyond her deep curiosity and academic bookwork tendencies. Claudia essentially invents a vampire physical therapy for her injured father figure Louis, plus she has the cunning to put together an elaborate and successful murder plot.
The Caretaker: In episode 6, Claudia takes care of her older vampire brother Louis (she no longer wants to be treated as his adoptive daughter, and they are siblings in vampire terms) after he's thrashed to a pulp by Lestat. She even develops a vampire form of physical therapy to help Louis regain his mobility.
Louis: A few shattered vertebrae, a punctured lung... blind in one eye for five weeks. Two months, was it? [...] Excruciating pain was the proof I was still alive. [...] [Claudia] dedicated all her energy to my rehabilitation.
Cheerful Child: What she once was during her formative years as a fledgling vampire: laughing, dancing happily, skipping in the house, and it was even reflected in the tone of her earlier diaries.
Constantly Curious: She's much less content than Louis to settle with paltry information. As a young fledgling, she is constantly abuzz with questions, to Lestat's exasperation, and when older, she still wants to know more about other vampires and undertakes her own research. She wants to leave the United States and travel across Europe to find out whatever she can.
Creepy Child: As a younger fledgling, she acts normally and is a cheerful girl mostly, although her predatory nature as a vampire makes her seem "off" to humans sometimes — usually just before she bites them.
Dark and Troubled Past: Even before the fire, her mother died giving birth to her, her father abandoned her, and her aunt who raised her was physically abusive. In addition, Claudia later states that her uncle at the rooming house had watched her urinate as a child.
Diaries Are Girly: In episode 4, Claudia is a teenage girl who diligently records her thoughts and feelings about the minutiae of her daily life in her diaries, which all have pretty covers. She narrates her entries with a singsong voice and is very expressive. The set of three "Dear Diary" promos further underline her girly side with a flower in the corners of the border and cute doodles (including Love Doodles around Charlie's name, a young man she has a big crush on).
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: A sadistic vampire who genuinely loves her adoptive father Louis, as well as her maker Lestat before his extremely harsh Tough Love parenting destroyed the bond they once shared. Claudia also seems to want to find and form relationships with more vampires.
Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry:
- Because she's the daughter of a moneyed vampire couple, she wears an ornate floral-patterned gold headband studded with pearls for her 17th birthday party, and Lestat's gift to her is an emerald necklace that once belonged to a marquis. Claudia is wowed by it, but the chain is too long for her, so Louis assures her that they'll find one in her size.
- In the sixth episode, after Claudia tosses Antoinette's scorched finger into the fireplace, she slips on the dead woman's silver ring which features a big flower design (petals, stem and leaves) embedded with red gems on to her own thumb and admires its beauty.
Expository Hairstyle Change: How she styles her hair along with how she dresses illustrates her maturing further into adulthood since she does not physically age from fourteen.
Eye Colour Change: As part of her transformation into a vampire, her brown eyes become reddish-orange.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: When reading her diaries several decades later, Daniel doesn't have much sympathy for Claudia despite all the horrible things she suffers, because she's also a vicious Serial Killer.
Louis: We made her out of remorse... out of selfishness.
Daniel: Poor dear. She wasn't held enough in between ritualistic murders.
Louis: She spent every night for half a decade with no friends, locked in the emotional storm of puberty.
Daniel: Look, Charles Manson wrote a couple of beautiful songs. Still, he was Charlie Manson.
Louis: Is that all you think of her?
Daniel: Mostly.
Genki Girl: At the start of her vampiric existence, she's an exuberant and energetic girl, frequently running around the house even though Louis and Lestat repeatedly tell her not to.
Girlish Pigtails: In the fourth episode, she sometimes sports braided pigtails (this is her hairstyle when Louis rescues her from the burning rooming house, when she's shopping for her own coffin, and when she's Bug Catching during a boat ride with Louis) as a visual cue to viewers that she's a young girly girl.
Hates Their Parent: In episode 5, Claudia has grown to loathe her vampire dads for giving her the Dark Gift and reading her journals without her permission. She lashes out at them with "I hate you both!" and later runs away from home.
Informed Attribute: Claudia laments being stuck in a prepubescent body while her mind matures, never mind that she's played by a postpubescent actress.
Kill the Ones You Love: In a case of Accidental Murder, Claudia drinks all of Charlie's blood during their make-out session in episode 4. She's extremely distraught about the death of her First Love afterwards.
Like Parent, Like Child: Like father, like daughter. Both Lestat and Claudia are much more like each other than either would ever admit. The various traits Lestat complains about in his vampire daughter, he himself possessed them long before she developed them.
Living Lie Detector: Perhaps not universally, but she becomes an Antagonistic Offspring towards Lestat partly because she notices his omissions and falsehoods, plus his overall deceitful personality.
Love at First Sight: Claudia is instantly smitten with Charlie when he first approaches her to check if she's alright after his horse is spooked by her presence.
No Full Name Given: Just like in the novel, her surname is unknown. She does not take on the surname of either of her adoptive vampire dads.
Not Growing Up Sucks: Lestat warned Louis that turning someone as young as Claudia would be a bad idea. He was right. At the end of episode 4, Claudia writes in her diary with alarming instability about being stuck in a "flat-chested, hairless-crotched 14-year-old baby doll body" as her mind matures into that of an adult. This precedes her beginning to Self-Harm by sticking her arm in sunlight. In Claudia's eyes, the problem is very specific: her immature body severely limits her romantic prospects. The only people attracted to her are young teenaged boys, the same age she was when she was turned (who she increasingly considers "little boys" and isn't interested in), and ephebophiles. Louis sees the problem more broadly, the central issue being that she's permanently "locked in the emotional storm of puberty."
Race Lift: Claudia was white in the book, whereas her TV counterpart is mixed-race (black and white). So is Louis, and this makes the two of them look like blood-kin, while Lestat does not, emphasizing the idea that Louis is more of a parent to her.
The Runaway: She spends seven years travelling the country on her own, striking out from the home of her vampire parents.
Sadist: She very much shares this trait with her vampire maker; she likes to "play" with her prey. From collecting trophies in the form of their body parts, to mockingly imitating Lestat's dying expression, to how she records the last words of her victims.
The Scapegoat: Lestat blames her for his and Louis' relationship deteriorating even though most of it is fully Lestat's own fault.
Secret Diary: She keeps a series of journals in which she talks and confides everything to. Their existence isn't so much a secret, but rather their contents are, as she doesn't want anyone to read them. However, Lestat discovers two of them in episode 5 when he breaks open the lid of her coffin, and he reads both diaries in full, much to Claudia's irritation. By 2022, Louis has read and memorized all of her journals, and has edited out at least one portion.
Serial Killer: After accidentally killing Charlie, her First Love, she becomes mentally unstable and murders at least 56 people, even taking trophies from them and keeping a Kill Tally.
Technicolor Eyes: Her vampire eyes are reddish-orange.
Too Much Alike: Louis and Claudia are the close ones — they look like blood kin, they share a telepathic bond, and Louis has a far greater parental role to her. But in personality, she's more like her maker Lestat — namely they're both vicious in a way Louis almost never is. This is also the reason they butt heads frequently.
Louis: In many ways, they were more like each other than they wanted to admit. They both sought out weakness. They reveled in the exploitation of it, and they romped with joy as I played audience to their joyless exchanges.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Lestat indirectly thinks so, wondering if Louis had set Claudia up by providing some of her existential questions, reasoning that no 14-year-old would ask them — Louis for his part says her inquiries are normal for a teenager, and it's Lestat who doesn't remember what it's like to be that age.

Bruce

Played by: Damon Daunno

A vampire who aimlessly roams the United States on his motorcycle.

No Full Name Given: When he introduces himself to Claudia, he doesn't offer his surname.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: What is strongly implied to have happened to Claudia; she refuses to talk about what happened with Bruce, and even Lestat is disgusted, although he uses it to manipulate and intimidate her.
Stalker with a Crush: He had followed Claudia to different universities before making himself known to her.
Technicolor Eyes: His vampire eyes are reddish-orange.

Magnus

A vampire who forced vampirism on Lestat in 1794 and then committed suicide.

Abusive Parents: In addition to what Lestat states about his family, his own maker was not better. If he's to be believed, he was kidnapped by Magnus from his room in Paris and was locked in a tower full of corpses that looked like him until Magnus decided to feed on him. Eventually Lestat was turned, but was taught nothing about his vampiric condition as Magnus threw himself into a fire.
Driven to Suicide: Lestat states that shortly after siring him, Magnus left him his wealth and then committed suicide by jumping in a fire.
No Full Name Given: Lestat doesn't know his maker's surname because Magnus killed himself soon after turning him, plus it's never mentioned in The Vampire Chronicles.
Posthumous Character: He killed himself in 1794, 228 years before the start of the series.
Serial Killer: He had captured and murdered dozens of men who had the same color hair, eyes and build; Lestat would be the last of these and turned instead of killed.

Armand

Played by: Assad Zaman

The former coven master of the Théâtre des Vampires who later becomes Louis' lover.

Adaptational Early Appearance: In the Interview with the Vampire novel, Armand's role starts in the second-half of the story, but in the TV adaptation, his opening scene is in the pilot (albeit in Human Disguise as Rashid).
Adaptational Nationality:
- Implied Trope. In the books, Armand was from Kievan Rus' and was Eastern Orthodox. In the show, he's Muslim, played by an actor of Bangladeshi descent, and speaks Uzbek in his private prayers. Daniel speculates Armand might be Kazakh or Crimean Tatar, both ethnic minorities in Uzbekistan. Daniel is an unreliable source — he knows nothing about Armand's background and is just guessing off the top of his head — but The Law of Conservation of Detail might suggest he's not completely off base.
  Daniel: "Asr namozi." ^note What is that? That's not Arabic. What is it, Kazakh? Somewhere in the Crimea?
- The Season 2 First Look Scene offers another possibility; Armand speaks French fluently and has a French accent when he talks in English (in fact, Assad Zaman's French pronunciation is slightly better than Sam Reid's), so that may suggest he has French citizenship. Armand has resided in France since at least 1910 (he and Lestat are co-founders of the Théâtre des Vampires, so it was created before the latter left for America), and by 1927, anyone who has lived in France for three years can apply for citizenship.
Adaptation Dye-Job: In the source material, Armand has auburn curls and dark brown eyes, whereas the TV iteration has black curls and orange irises as a vampire.
Age Lift: He was born in 1508 instead of 1480 like in the books. He's also physically 17 in the source material, but stated to be in his 20s in the show, presumably to avoid portraying Louis as an ephebophile, or perhaps to minimize how much he visibly ages between seasons.
Canon Character All Along: Armand is the true identity of Rashid.
Daywalking Vampire: He is over 500 years old and has become immune to sunlight.
Armand: As we age, the sun loses its power over us. What's a mediocre star to a 514-year-old vampire?
Declaration of Protection: He states that he protects Louis from himself and others, while worrying about Louis' interview being a suicide attempt. Armand also reacts very unhappily to Daniel insulting Louis, warning him that when Daniel hears the other half of the story, he'll be ashamed about his scornful remarks.
Hide Your Otherness: While posing as the human Rashid, he wears brown contact lenses and gloves to cover up his vampiric features, specifically his orange irises and razor-sharp nails.
Human Disguise: For reasons unknown, he pretends to be Rashid, the human personal assistant of Louis, whenever he's in Daniel's presence, even going through the trouble of putting on brown contact lenses to hide his orange vampire eyes and wearing gloves to conceal his vampire fingernails. He drops the disguise at the end of Season 1.
The Leader: He's the leader of the Parisian vampire coven. In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Santiago follows Armand's orders, and the other members don't make a move to invade the de la Croix mansion until he gives them permission to "Enjoy yourselves."
Lesbian Vampire: Gender-Inverted Trope. He doesn't identify his sexual orientation in Season 1, but he and Louis are a same-sex couple.
Pretty Boy: He's a young-looking, doe-eyed, gorgeous man, with luscious curls, dainty features, a slender build, and is always clean-shaven. Daniel disparages his prettiness by referring to him as "the rent boy." In the Season 2 First Look Scene, Louis flirts with Armand and tells him "You carry yourself well," and "Been thinkin' the same about you [that you're also alluring]. Been thinkin' about you often."
Race Lift: He's Caucasian in the books, but his TV counterpart is played by a British Bangladeshi actor.
Religious Vampire: He's a vampire and a practicing Muslim.
Second Love: After concluding the story of his failed Common Law Marriage to Lestat, Louis introduces Armand as "the love of my life."
Stronger with Age: His advanced age has made him incredibly powerful, even compared to other older vampires like Lestat. Most notably, he has reached a stage where sunlight no longer hurts him.
Sunglasses at Night: In the Season 2 First Look Scene, he wears sunglasses at nighttime to conceal his orange vampire eyes.
Super Power Lottery: Like Lestat, he has all the basic vampire powers, but also has the rare cloud gift and is immune to sunlight.
Technicolor Eyes: His vampire eyes are orange.
Trauma Button: Assuming his backstory from the books is canon on the show, Armand was a sex slave when he was human, and reacts to Daniel calling him "the rent boy" — an informal British term for a male prostitute — by immediately leaving the room with an air of barely repressed anger.
Twofer Token Minority: He's queer (his precise sexual orientation isn't stated in Season 1, but he and Louis are in a committed relationship), and his actor is of Bangladeshi ancestry. Armand is also Muslim, although his status as a religious minority only applies to when he used to live in Paris and San Francisco, not his current residence in Dubai.

Santiago

Played by: Ben Daniels

The master of ceremonies and actor at the Théâtre des Vampires.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the book, Santiago has black eyes, whereas the TV character has bright lime green irises.
Elderly Immortal: Although the Season 2 promotional materials don't mention Santiago's age, the deep wrinkles on his face indicate that he became a vampire in his late 50s / early 60s. His actor Ben Daniels was 58 years old (and then turned 59 in June 2023) during Season 2's principal photography.
Guyliner: In the Season 2 SDCC trailer, he wears eyeliner while performing on stage at the Théâtre des Vampires. In a Santiago-centric TV spot, he has blue eye makeup during Louis and Claudia's trial.
Number Two: In the Season 2 First Look Scene, he's Armand's second-in-command and enforcer.
Performance Artist: In Season 2 promotional materials, he's the Théâtre des Vampires master of ceremonies and thespian who gives grandiose introductions to the spectators, is over-the-top when he consumes his victims onstage, and during rehearsals, he'll throw a hissy fit (and toss away the script) if he disagrees with the direction of the show.
Sleeves Are for Wimps: In Season 2 promotional materials, there are a few shots where he's sleeveless, presumably to expose his muscular arms in order to appear intimidating.

Humans

Daniel Molloy

Played by: Eric Bogosian; Luke Brandon Field

An investigative journalist who accepts Louis' invitation to interview him for the second time 49 years after the first one ended badly.

Adaptation Dye-Job: The original Daniel is described as having ashen blond hair and violet irises, while the show's version is green-eyed and the 1973 Flashback reveals that he was a brunet when he was younger.
Ailment-Induced Cruelty: It's implied partly why he's so brusque and grouchy is due to his Parkinson's disease taking a toll on him. The fact that he's dying also seems to free him to be a hostile interviewer to Louis — after all, what's Louis gonna do, kill him?
Ambiguously Bi: He has been married twice, has two daughters, and speaks fondly of his first wife. However, he met Louis in a gay bar where he was a regular (the bartender addresses Daniel by his diminutive "Danny," which Daniel doesn't allow complete strangers like Louis to use). Yet present-day Daniel, when reminded about it by Louis, writes it off as "a good place to score [drugs]." When we see their first meeting in Flashback, Louis flirts with Daniel, offers him drugs and invites him back to his apartment. Daniel asks if he can interview Louis and accepts the invitation, adding "I mean, if something happens, you know, I'm cool." It's left ambiguous whether he's talking about sex, drugs, or both.
- According to invokedWord of Saint Paul from Eric Bogosian, Daniel is attracted to Louis.
Audience Surrogate: He's a stand-in for the audience whenever he brings up the fact that Louis is an Unreliable Narrator (the latter even acknowledges "And you can imagine what time's inevitable hammer does to the minute details"). Daniel has doubts about the veracity of Louis' second account in 2022 because it's so dissimilar to the first interview in 1973, so viewers must also ponder if Louis is indeed painting a "more nuanced portrait" of the past, if he is being deliberately dishonest and editorializing as accused, or if the additional 49 years have further muddled his memory.
Brutal Honesty: Daniel's stock in trade. He is always upfront about what he really thinks; in his commercial, he openly informs potential students about his issues with modern journalism and doesn't even try to make the career sound enticing. He also never hesitates to let Louis know his real views, especially since he's already on his way out from his illness.
Deadpan Snarker: Hardly a scene passes where he isn't dropping caustic remarks, especially when he's taunting Louis.
Grumpy Old Man: In 2022, he's 69 years old, and he's cantankerous, rude and snarky. He lampshades this in the second scene of the series with "I'm an old man with all the triggers that come with it." In the commercial for his online journalism course, he misses the good old days (at least by his reckoning) when "News used to be a bunch of guys who look like me huddled around a desk at a Page One meeting deciding what the news was," then holds up a smart phone and snidely says, "This little fucker changed all of that." He also tends to interrupt and goad Louis ("Provocation" as the latter calls it) even though it's dangerous for him to do so because Louis nearly killed him in 1973 for being disrespectful. Rashid has always been polite in Daniel's presence, yet Daniel purposely disrupts Rashid's prayers without apologizing, and later insults him as "the rent boy." However, in both cases, he senses something is off, and as an experienced investigative journalist, he tries to push to see through glaring omissions and suspected unreliable narrating which would otherwise render the very thing he is here to do moot. Outside of work, at least some of Daniel's surly disposition stems from his Parkinson's disease ("I never pass a comfortable night"), plus he's twice divorced and is estranged from his two daughters.
I Was Quite a Looker: He was a Pretty Boy when he was 20 years old, and he was gorgeous enough that Louis instantly noticed him when Daniel walked into Polynesian Mary's; Louis then swiftly began hitting on him once Daniel sat down at the bar. The bartender was aware that Daniel normally didn't carry any cash on him, so this suggests that he relied on his good looks to get men to buy him drinks.
Jerkass Has a Point:
- He's biased, abrasive and often unsympathetic to Louis and his past, but he does raise some good points about Louis' abusive relationship with Lestat, and he notes that Claudia, while she may be an eloquent writer, still chose to deal with her pain and trauma by becoming a Serial Killer.
- The way he expresses his arguments is extremely insensitive, especially in matters regarding Claudia, but he is correct about Louis' status as an Unreliable Narrator. As he points out, Louis' habit of lying by omission and having a Self-Serving Memory regarding certain events throws his entire story into question, and makes Daniel rightfully doubt every word he says.
- In the same vein, when it comes to Claudia, he's absolutely correct that there's no way to control how other people will feel about her if information about her is released. No matter what narrative Louis wants to be put out, no matter how carefully it's introduced, there's always a chance people will develop feelings and opinions that are contrary to what he wants. Historical figures and fictional characters alike are viewed through personal biases no documentarian/writer/presenter/etc. has any guarantee of personally appealing to.
Living Lie Detector: A non-superpowered example. Because he's an award-winning investigative journalist, Daniel has spent his entire career detecting inconsistencies and falsehoods, so he's able to read Louis like a book. Daniel swiftly picks up on any holes in the narration, and challenges Louis about the so-called truth every single time something doesn't add up.
Married to the Job: In the Season 2 Sneak Peek Clip, Armand and Louis discover from psychically glimpsing at Daniel's memories that in 1985, the latter cared more about working on his novel than his family — he was indifferent when his first wife Alice announced to him that she was pregnant.
Armand: It's Alice, Louis, not Claudia.
Daniel: Excuse me?
Louis: Oh, I see. I've triggered a memory. It's 1985, you and Alice are at a brasserie talking past each other, and she tells you she's pregnant.
Daniel: The fishing rod in the head again?
Louis: And you say, "Yah, let's talk about it later tonight."
Daniel: I gotta knock out another chapter, one a week. I leave before the bill is paid, I never finish the novel. I think it was the "Yah" that pissed her off most. Yah?
Louis: (nods head) Yah.
Oh, Crap!: Reacts like this when Rashid reveals himself to be the vampire Armand.
Only Sane Man: Jerkass tendencies aside, Daniel has his head on right, and fully recognizes that every character in Louis' revised account is a murderer, an abuser, a victim of Domestic Abuse, an Unreliable Narrator, or some combination thereof. While he did ask to become a vampire as a 20-year-old, he was high on drugs at that point and listening to Louis' story for a second time has quashed that desire, and Daniel rejects the offer, having realized it wouldn't be worth it.
Pet the Dog: His main concern is leaving some money for his daughters so they'll be financially comfortable after he dies.
Pretty Boy: In 1973, Louis retains his habit of heading "Straight to the prettiest girl at the party" because he makes a beeline for the 20-year-old Daniel when the latter enters Polynesian Mary's (a gay bar), and Louis immediately flirts with the young man. Daniel is curly-haired with a round face and soft features, and Louis' Affectionate Nickname for him is "boy," which highlights his youth.
Time-Shifted Actor: He's portrayed by Eric Bogosian for the 2022 storyline and by Luke Brandon Field for the 1973 Flashback.
Vampire Vannabe: In 1973, a 20-year-old Daniel was apparently high on drugs when he asked Louis to turn him into a vampire, and Louis almost killed him for doing so because he believed the brash young reporter was being "disrespectful." In 2022, Daniel outright refuses the chance to become a vampire when Louis offers him the Dark Gift.

Paul de Pointe du Lac

Played by: Steven G Norfleet

Louis' younger brother who's plagued by the "birds" in his mind that he claims communicate the word of God to him.

Ambiguous Situation: He commits suicide by walking off the roof of the family mansion the morning after Grace's wedding. It's unclear just how conscious of a decision it was, and (if he had any) what his reasoning was. Paul was a devout Catholic, and the church is very much against suicide. Paul didn't seem Driven to Suicide in his final moments — he appeared to be happy while having a nice conversation with his brother. For decades, Louis harbored suspicions that Lestat had somehow been involved in Paul's death because his brother informed him that Lestat spoke to him without moving his lips. When finally asked, Lestat — a Consummate Liar — denies it.
Big Little Brother: He's slightly taller than his older brother Louis.
Paul: You remember the day I got taller than you?
Louis: Always bringin' that up.
Paul: Shot up like a Nuttall oak. Daddy said I was gonna look down on you for the rest of days.
Louis: Yeah, yeah. Half an inch.
Paul: That was a good month, that month.
The Cuckoolander Was Right: Paul has a better read on Lestat than Louis does. He questions Lestat's intentions with Louis, and later warns his brother that Lestat is the Devil.
Hearing Voices: He experiences auditory hallucinations. He refers to them as "birds" in his head, which he believes impart God's will. His father put him in a mental hospital in Jackson to treat this, but he only got worse.
Holier Than Thou: He's driven by a desperate religious reverence that he feels he must impart on those around him. His family endures it with beleaguered patience. We first meet Paul as he tries to convince the prostitutes at his brother's brothel to leave the sex trade — which, if they actually did, would destroy the de Pointe du Lac family financially.

Nicolas de Lenfent

Played by: Joseph Potter

A violinist whom Lestat had fallen in love with in the late 18th century.

Adaptational Early Appearance: The casting of Joseph Potter as Nicolas in Season 2 (which covers the second-half of the Interview with the Vampire novel) means that the TV character's debut is half of a book earlier than expected. His literary counterpart's sole appearance is in The Vampire Lestat, the second installment of The Vampire Chronicles.
Even the Guys Want Him: The bisexual Lestat describes Nicolas as having "infinite beauty."
First Love: He was the first person Lestat had fallen in love with.
In-Series Nickname: Lestat's nickname for him is "Nicki."
The Muse: He was the inspiration behind the song that Lestat wrote which plays in the latter's music box from France.
Posthumous Character: He has been dead for about a century before the first 1910 Flashback scene.
Pretty Boy: Lampshaded by Lestat when he says that Nicolas was "a boy of infinite beauty," and he indirectly compares him to Louis, the latter being acknowledged as pretty In-Universe. Moreover, Joseph Potter appears to be in his early-to-mid 20s when he was cast ^note, is boyish-looking, curly-haired, and has large eyes.

Antoinette Brown

Played by: Maura Grace Athari

A lounge singer who becomes Lestat's mistress.

Adaptational Job Change: The original Antoine is a musician (specifically a pianist and violinist) and composer, whereas the Gender Flipped Antoinette is a lounge singer who doesn't play any instruments or write music.
Adaptational Nationality: The show's Antoinette, the Gender Flip of her book counterpart Antoine, is American instead of French.
Adaptation Dye-Job: The raven-haired Antoine from the books has been Gender Flipped into a blonde Antoinette for the TV adaptation.
Adaptation Name Change: Due to Gender Flip, the name of the literary character Antoine was changed to Antoinette for the TV incarnation. The latter is also given the surname Brown, whereas the former lacked a full name.
Alas, Poor Villain: More accurately a lackey rather than a villain, but she's depicted in the end as being yet another victim of her lover Lestat's machinations — him putting a hand around her throat after objecting her confinement and mutilation, as well as her silently crying after being thrown out of her own home so that he and Louis can have sex in her bedroom are portrayed sympathetically.
The Chanteuse: She's an alluring lounge singer who specializes in Torch Songs and performs in a long, glamorous evening gown, a gold necklace and high heels when she's on stage. She's the "Veronica" in the Betty and Veronica rivalry that she has with Louis (the "Betty") over Lestat (the "Archie").
Death by Adaptation: She dies in the Season 1 finale, which is only halfway through the Interview with the Vampire story, whereas the character she is based on, Antoine, is still alive by the end of The Vampire Chronicles.
Fingore: Lestat has Antoinette cut off a finger to fake her death, as Claudia and Louis demanded her demise in exchange for Lestat being allowed to come home.
Gender Flip: Antoinette (a woman) is based on Antoine (a man) from The Vampire Chronicles, a musician (although she's more precisely a singer) who becomes Lestat's lover and is later turned into a vampire.
Kill It with Fire: She became a vampire since at least the sixth episode, and after being knocked out by Claudia, she is thrown into the furnace by Louis. Antoinette wakes up while being burned alive.
The Mistress: There's no question Louis is Lestat's primary relationship. They share a household, a daughter, and plans for Eternal Love. Meanwhile, Lestat doesn't care much about Antoinette, but keeps her for variety, a respite from domestic life, and a source of sex and affection when Louis withdraws from him.
Lestat: [Louis] broods; [Claudia] snipes. [Beat] That's why I need you. You fortify me against them. You're like me, you like to laugh. [...] I seek refuge from complaints when I visit you, dear.
Satellite Love Interest: Her sole importance in the story is that she's Lestat's mistress. Outside of that, we don't really know anything about her other than she's a singer.

Jonah Macon

Played by: Thomas Antony Olajide

Louis' childhood friend and former lover.

Canon Foreigner: His character doesn't exist in The Vampire Chronicles.
Childhood Friend Romance: Jonah and Louis are Childhood Friends, but their bond becomes much more intimate after they begin having sex when Jonah is 16 years old. As gay African American men in the late 19th century, their longtime connection means that they trusted each other and felt safe exploring their feelings and sexuality in an era of profound racism and when homosexuality was punishable by law. Although things cooled down between them after Jonah moved away for work, when they see each other again in 1917, their camaraderie remains easy and close despite the passage of time (Louis is 39 years old ^note, so his romantic affection for Jonah has lasted for at least 20 years). In fact, Lestat instantly becomes jealous the moment he sees Louis cheerily greeting Jonah because he can sense the underlying sparks between them. Not surprisingly, Jonah and Louis later share a moonlight tryst at the bayou, but their relationship doesn't go any further because Jonah will soon head off to France for World War I.
Childhood Friends: Jonah and Louis met as kids and were best friends while they were growing up. Even though Jonah later left New Orleans to find employment, when they cross paths again years later, the warmth of their rapport is still evident.
Closet Gay: As a homosexual, he must keep his fondness for Louis under wraps when they're in front of others. They greet each other as old friends, not as former lovers, which contrasts Lestat openly necking his mistress Antoinette. When Louis asks Jonah, "You ever think about those old days when we were kids?", Jonah visibly becomes tense and stays silent because he knows that Louis isn't just talking about when they were innocent children, but also when they had a romantic/sexual relationship as teenagers. They later go to the bayou for a tryst because it's secluded and very dark at night (and thus it's unlikely they'd be spotted by prying eyes — well, other than Lestat's), and it's hinted that it was routine for the adolescent Jonah and Louis to come here to have sex.
First Love: While not explicitly stated, it's very likely that Jonah is Louis' first love because they're Childhood Friends who developed a Childhood Friend Romance during their late adolescence, especially when one factors in the racism and the homophobia of the late 19th century. Although their paths diverged for many years, their feelings for each other are still apparent when they meet again in 1917 when Louis is nearly middle-aged, which demonstrates how intense their emotional attachment was during their youth because they're both still carrying a torch at least two decades later.
Good-Looking Privates: Louis admires Jonah in military garb: "Good fit, this uniform."
Satellite Love Interest: Although he gets a little bit of a backstory (unlike Antoinette), his main purpose is to establish that Louis has loved another man before Lestat, as Jonah is Louis' childhood sweetheart, and they still harbour feelings for each other at least two decades later.
Twofer Token Minority: He's a gay African American.

Madeleine

Played by: Roxane Duran

A dressmaker who owned a shop in Paris during the 1940s.

Adaptational Job Change: In the source material, Madeleine is a dollmaker, whereas her TV counterpart is a dressmaker.
Adaptation Dye-Job: The literary Madeleine is violet-eyed while her TV incarnation possesses hazel irises.

Unknown

Rashid

Played by: Assad Zaman

Louis' personal assistant in Dubai.

Ambiguously Human: At first, it seems like he's a human familiar, even being fed on by Louis, but as the episodes go on, he displays behavior and speeches that put that into question, culminating in a flashback dream of Daniel that shows Rashid looking the same age 49 years ago.
Color-Coded Characters: In 2022, he's only ever seen in black clothing.
Creature of Habit: Louis informs Daniel that Rashid is a stickler for routine.
Louis: Sleep, pray, eat, pray, swim, pray, et cetera. [...] Metronomic, my Rashid.
Foreshadowing: He shows Daniel a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings of the Théâtre des Vampires seconds before revealing himself to be Armand.
No Full Name Given: His surname is never spoken on-screen. Of course, it's not necessary for Armand's Human Disguise.
The Renfield: He's a loyal human servant of Louis and acts as the latter's personal assistant.
Voluntary Vampire Victim: He willingly submits to receiving a Kiss of the Vampire from Louis. Rashid even stuffs himself with honey and pineapple for days before offering himself to his boss in order to make his blood taste sweeter.
Walking Spoiler: It's difficult to talk about him without revealing his true identity: the vampire Armand.

Characters / Interview with the Vampire (2022)

Vampires

Louis de Pointe du Lac

Lestat de Lioncourt

Claudia

Bruce

Magnus

Armand

Santiago

Humans

Daniel Molloy

Paul de Pointe du Lac

Nicolas de Lenfent

Antoinette Brown

Jonah Macon

Madeleine

Unknown

Rashid

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Characters / Interview with the Vampire (2022)

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Vampires

Louis de Pointe du Lac

Lestat de Lioncourt

Claudia

Bruce

Magnus

Armand

Santiago

Humans

Daniel Molloy

Paul de Pointe du Lac

Nicolas de Lenfent

Antoinette Brown

Jonah Macon

Madeleine

Unknown

Rashid

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