Interview With The Vampire Season 2, Episode 7: Sam Reid On Lestat's Plan (Or Lack Thereof) For The Trial

Warning: Spoilers for Interview with the Vampire season 2, episode 7!

Interview with the Vampire season 2, episode 7 was a tour de force for Lestat de Lioncourt (played by Sam Reid), who put on a grand show in front of the Théâtre des Vampires and its human audience as the star witness in Louis and Claudia’s trial. After Armand betrayed his lover to his coven in episode 6, Louis and Claudia are faced with an even greater shock: Lestat is out of his grave and in the spotlight once more. Nevertheless, Lestat’s testimony subtly reveals that his feelings for Louis remain as strong as ever.

Claudia (played beautifully by Delainey Hayles) does not make it out of the sentencing, sunned to death alongside her new companion Madeleine, but Louis is saved from execution at the last moment by a vampire mind trick. “I Could Not Prevent It” posits Armand as his rescuer, but if Interview with the Vampire has taught viewers anything, it’s that memory is not a reliable source of knowledge. After all, if Lestat only wanted vengeance upon Louis, why did he keep going off-script? Viewers will have to wait until the finale for answers, but Reid has some words to say in Lestat’s defense in the meantime.

Screen Rant interviewed Reid about Lestat’s complicated thought process throughout the latest episode of Interview with the Vampire season 2. The actor emphasized his character’s undeniable love for Louis despite their toxic past, his subtle rebellion against the Théâtre des Vampires, and his regret over Claudia’s ultimate fate.

Sam Reid Breaks Down Lestat’s Internal Struggle In “I Could Not Prevent It”

Screen Rant: Season 2, episode 7 of Interview with the Vampire finally gives us Lestat back in full force, on the stage and performing for the audience, though the results are terrible. What was that confluence of emotions like?

Sam Reid: I don’t think it’s great. He’s probably having a horrible time. Could you imagine a worse situation than that? It’s not something that he wants to do at all.

I think it’s also such a traumatic thing for him; the theater, and being on stage specifically in Paris, is always so f–ked for him. It never goes well. It’s just his hell place, so the fact that he has to go back and do this big show? Yeah, it’s hell.

Being faced with Louis and Claudia must be a trip after all this time. What is his goal going in, and how does it morph over the course of the episode?

Sam Reid: I think there’s no world in which he’s not going to be there. Louis and Claudia are on trial for his murder, and they’re going to be killed because he just knows the way that these vampires work. There’s no way he’s not going to be there — whether or not he’s got a plan. Plans are not really something that Lestat does, but there is also not a world in which he would ever let Louis die. It not realistic for him to be like, “I’m going to go and kill Louis.”

I think there are a lot of feelings, but whether or not he’s planned it out, I’m not sure. He’s following through with the plan that he has arranged with Armand and Santiago and the coven. He’s doing it just so, but he wants them to know that he’s not entirely following their rules; he’s going off-script as much as he possibly can and making everyone feel very unsettled.

The big thing that [director] Emma Freeman and I spoke about with that episode was making sure that Lestat’s getting out into the audience as much as possible. He is always going out and touching them and walking around, so we’re not stuck on the stage all the time. He is making sure that they are on his side at all times.

What are his feelings towards the Théâtre des Vampires at this moment?

Sam Reid: Nothing good. The problem is that we haven’t fully explored what’s happened yet, but the Théâtre des Vampires was never supposed to be what it’s become. That is not what it was supposed to be, and it’s once again become this very regimented, law-orientated, rule-following prison for a Vampiric existence. That’s not Lestat’s M.O., and it’s not at all what they were supposed to get out of that kind of experience.

While there are some members of the coven who he knows, he’s never met a lot of them. He’s this revered figure; they’ve seen his picture on the wall for years, and they talk about him all the time. But it is Armand’s coven, and I think anything to do with Armand — full stop — has got some real issues.

Interview With The Vampire Season 2, Episode 7 Recontextualizes Louis & Lestat’s Relationship

One of my favorite moments in the episode is Lestat apologizing over the cloud gift move from last season. It’s powerful and moving, and yet so frustrating because the trial carries on like nothing after. Can you talk about playing that scene with Jacob?

Sam Reid: Yeah, I think we kind of had to make sure it [landed]. I don’t want it to be like, “Yeah, but actually, it’s not such a big deal. He apologized, and it’s over now,” which is what Claudia said. It’s probably not as violent an act as Louis made it out to be in season 1, but I think the fact that Lestat did something to him that is so out of his nature was driven by the extent to which they love each other.

Lestat was driven to the point that he didn’t fully even recognize himself, and he saw from his own hands an action that was unforgivable. You’ve physically hurt the person that you love so much that you no longer feel like you deserve to be with them. He knew that, and I think the thing is that he realized that as soon as he’s done that, he also has to die.

In terms of working on that scene with Jacob, I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that this is not the end. Do you know what I mean? This is not the finality of that beat. Louis doesn’t forgive him at that moment, and Lestat sees that. He can’t look at him that much during the trial, but there’s another moment when Lestat looks at him and all he sees is pure hate in Louis’ gaze. “He’s never going to forgive me.” But he doesn’t flip back to just doing the trial — he still wants to save him, you know what I mean? He’s got to just hurry the proceedings up, get through the f–king thing, and stick to his script.

That definitely is also when I feel like we get into that silhouetted, mirage version of the trial. I think that’s when we’re in full-blown POV bulls–t of how it actually went.

Lestat wants to save Louis at all costs, but no one saves Claudia. What was it like for you to say goodbye to Delainey after getting to know her and her version of Claudia all season?

Sam Reid: Horrendous! Delainey’s so fantastic, and Claudia is such a brilliant character. I don’t think Lestat’s ever really going to get over the fact that she dies — nor am I.

I think we laid that track down very early. We always knew this is how it was going to go from season 1, but it’s devastating, and it’s something he’s never going to get over. And yet, there is no world in which he’s going to let Louis die. There’s no reality in which Louis is going to die. It is not possible.

Looking ahead to the future, we’re hopefully getting Rockstar Lestat in the next season, if there is one. Are you practicing your moves? Or is there another storyline from Anne Rice’s other books that you hope to see play out?

Sam Reid: I wouldn’t tell you that if I was. [Laughs] There’s so many.

I would love it. I don’t know if we are, but I think it’s great to continue the progression because I think what’s so fantastic about starting with Interview with the Vampire is that the books start to open in these really chaotic ways, so by the time you get to Queen of The Damned and Tale of the Body Thief — I don’t know if we’d ever get to Realms of Atlantis — you’re like, “How did we get here?”

I think it’s really interesting, the progression from this little living room chamber piece in season 1 to Queen of the Damned’s full-blown explosions and Akasha’s world dominance. That kind of progression for a show is really fascinating, so I am excited to do that.

About Interview With The Vampire Season 2

The interview continues in season 2. In the year 2022, the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) recounts his life story to journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian). Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and teen fledgling Claudia (Delainey Hayles) conspired to kill the Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris, with Claudia. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman). Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.

Check out our other Interview With The Vampire chats here:

Interview with the Vampire

Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis’ life during the interview, the series examines Louis’ relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.

Cast

Jacob Anderson , Sam Reid , Eric Bogosian , Bailey Bass

Release Date

October 2, 2022

Seasons

2

Streaming Service(s)

AMC Plus

Writers

Rolin Jones

Showrunner

Mark Johnson

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