The Vampire Lestat NYCC Panel Brings New Casting Announcements and a Teaser Worth the Bite
It’s NYCC weekend, and you know what that means: we’ve got some news about The Vampire Lestat! The cast and creative team of AMC’s Anne Rice adaptation (formerly Interview with the Vampire) took the stage to tease what’s coming next, and let’s just say, things are about to get deliciously dark. Executive producers Mark Johnson and Hannah Moscovitch joined stars Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Eric Bogosian, Jennifer Ehle, and Assad Zaman to share footage, casting announcements, and juicy hints about the upcoming third season.
Now, “new footage” might be a bit of a stretch—it’s the same trailer shown at SDCC with a bit more meat—but this time, everyone got to see it. And trust us, it was worth the wait.
The panel kicked off with a question about why this story and its characters continue to resonate so deeply. Reid didn’t mince words, noting that it’s probably because what’s happening is “so fucked up.” And honestly? He’s right. Moscovitch teased that the upcoming season “reinvents [the characters] so completely,” describing it as radical because it runs through a new lead’s perspective: Lestat’s.
Of course, no Vampire Lestat NYCC panel would be complete without some fresh blood. AMC announced several new additions to previously announced cast members. This time it was time to meet Lestat’s band, which includes Noah Reid as Larry, Ryan Kattner as Salamander, Seamus Patterson as Alex, and Sarah Swire as TC. But the night’s biggest gasp came when it was revealed that The Woman King star Sheila Atim will play none other than Akasha, the Queen of the Damned herself.
Each cast member also gave fans a taste of what’s to come for their characters. Jacob Anderson shared that Louis, despite how Season 2 ended, isn’t exactly thriving, “You can only own the night for so long. I feel like Louis is a really, really moving, beautiful place at the end of season two. That’s all real, and I think he’s found a sense of being in the present. However, I’m stealing this from Hannah as she said this earlier. You can put the dress on the wall, you can put the portrait on the wall, but ultimately, his child died, and that’s not something you just get over.”
Eric Bogosian noted that Daniel is still adjusting to immortality. “It’s not easy. When you become a vampire at different stages in your life. In my case, it’s very late in life, so there’s a lot of Daniel as a human being in his struggles with it,” he said. “If you go all the way back to the very first moments of our series, Daniel’s kind of a grumpy guy hanging around his house in his socks watching TV, pissed off…and pissed off guys with power can be dangerous.”
As for Armand, Assad Zaman teased that this season focuses on his relationship with himself and how that affects those around him. Moscovitch added that for Armand, Daniel is “a bad daddy,” to which Bogosian quipped that Daniel’s like a stuffed animal a kid drags around until it’s torn up and missing an eye. Zaman’s response? “It’s tattered, it’s broken, but it’s mine.” Devil’s Minion nation, consider yourselves fed.
Mark Johnson hinted that this season’s rock-star setting brings a new energy to the show, calling it “so wild and unexpected and jaw-dropping and funny and yes, like the first two, really romantic.” Meanwhile, Ehle revealed that Lestat’s mother, Gabriella, will shake things up.
“She kind of creates chaos. She kind of thrives in creating it. She’s had so little agency in her life, and she was married at 15 to somebody she didn’t choose. He was horrible, and she had no hope, but she had this boy, and she had her hopes in him in a really fucked up way. Several really fucked up ways.”
The Vampire Lestat teaser shown at the NYCC panel offers three glorious minutes into all of this. We get a tense conversation between Louis and Daniel about their infamous book and Daniel’s involvement in Lestat’s documentary, flashes of Lestat’s human past, a haunting look at his relationship with his mother, and a brave dive into those fucked up ways Ehle teased. Something the series appears to be handling with the seriousness it deserves. And if that weren’t enough, there’s what looks like a supernatural possibly documentary-related litigation between Louis and Lestat.
We’re talking heartbreak, drama, sexual tension, 18th-century wigs, and a healthy dose of Ricean chaos, all to the beat of one of Lestat’s hot new tracks. Bang! Bang!
We don’t know about you, folks, but if this teaser is any indication, Season 3 of The Vampire Lestat is shaping up to be bold, bloody, and bursting with sound and fury. And honestly, we’re more than ready to let Lestat serenade us straight into the abyss.
The Vampire Lestat will premiere on AMC+ and AMC sometime in 2026. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured Image: Image Courtesy of AMC.
