‘The Vampire Lestat’: Jacob Anderson Teases Louis’ New Story

Jacob Anderson is getting an entirely new story for Louis de Pointe du Lac in Interview With the Vampire Season 3, titled The Vampire Lestat. The Game of Thrones alum can share very little about his new plot, but he shared what he could with TV Insider on the AMC Upfront carpet on Wednesday, April 29, in New York City.

In the new season, the Vampire Lestat (Sam Reid), now a rock star, goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rise, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population. Louis is barely in Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Lestat book. That won’t be the case in Season 3 of the AMC series. Anderson is top-billed alongside Reid, and the show’s creator, Rolin Jones, told TV Insider at the end of Season 2, “I’m not putting Jacob Anderson in a corner. The next turn, center stage is Lestat, but I don’t think we’re going to be pushing Louis to the side like he is in those books.”

Jones adapts Rice’s books with Hannah Moscovitch and their writing team. They’ve been taking bold swings with their version of the source material since the very first episode, opting to never make a direct recreation of book scenes, so viewers should expect that to continue in Season 3.

We asked Anderson if Louis’ plot is entirely original, if it pulls from later books in The Vampire Chronicles, or if it’s a blend.

“I think you can safely assume that it’s in conversation with things from later books, but not a one-to-one necessarily,” Anderson replied. “It’s very surprising. Some very surprising things. Very surprising and uncomfortable things happen as the season goes on with Louis.”

He added that protecting spoilers is important to him because “it’s something that is not from The Vampire Lestat, Louis’ story in this season. So, it’s nice to keep it mysterious.”

Premiering June 7, this marks the first season since Claudia’s (Delainey Hayles) death. Hayles will be back in Season 3, but the details of her return are under tight lock and key for now. All Anderson could tell us about Hayles’ return was, “I love Delainey Hayles, and it was lovely to hang out with her in Toronto. Jacob and Delainey hanging out. It was lovely,” with a knowing grin. He played it very cool when asked what he can tease about Louis and Armand (Assad Zaman) potentially seeing each other again: “I can tease nothing, nor can I even confirm that they see each other again this season. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Hayles and Zaman are in the main ensemble for Season 3, along with Anderson, Reid, Eric Bogosian, and Jennifer Ehle, so while their stories are shrouded in secrecy right now, that’s to prevent any spoilers from getting out. As revealed in The Vampire Lestat New York Comic Con panel in October, parts of Season 3 are pulling from a later book, The Vampire Armand.

@tvinsider #TheVampireLestat ♬ original sound – TV Insider

What parts of Interview With the Vampire Seasons 1 and 2’s essence are still present in Season 3?

“The humanity and the terror and the trauma, but also the sense of humor,” Anderson said in response to this question. “I think the show’s always had a sense of humor, and I feel like that’s been pulled out even more for Season 3, although I’d argue that Season 3 is the most upsetting season that we’ve done so far, if you can believe it.”

That is nearly impossible to believe, given the sheer devastation that was the trial (Season 2 Episode 7, “I Could Not Prevent It”), which ended with the murders of Claudia and her lover, Madeleine (Roxane Duran), in a public execution. Season 1 also had the horrific fifth episode, which showed Louis being brutally abused by Lestat — a scene that was expertly revisited in the Season 2 trial.

“It’s heavy. Season 3 is heavy, but it’s a lot of fun,” Anderson said. When asked if it’s heavier than the trial episode, Anderson said “you could argue” that some parts are.

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“This is a fairly harrowing season of television, but with some fun. Lots of fun,” Anderson noted. We had to ask Reid for his take on this on the Upfront carpet.

“Season 2, Claudia dies, which is pretty devastating, but I would say yeah,” Reid said in response to Anderson’s answer. Reid spoke as if he could barely believe what he was saying, the same vibe as Anderson.

“It’s more devastating, in a way, because it’s like we’ve been stabbed, and then the knife’s still in there, and now it’s just getting twisted. It’s twisted and twisted,” Reid added. “Wounds aren’t necessarily healing. They’re just getting bigger and more bloody.”

Anderson summed it up with this: “Musicians are tragic by their nature. Vampires are tragic by their nature. We’re doubling up on those two things. That’s got to be double tragedy as well, right?” If you say so…

The Vampire Lestat, Premieres Sunday, June 7, 9/8c, AMC, Streaming on AMC+