Interview With The Vampire: The overt gayification of a timeless vampire classic

AMC’s highly anticipated, long awaited adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview With The Vampire is here! The first episode dropped out of nowhere earlier this week on the AMC+ app, ahead of the planned schedule, and those that have watched are in quite a tizzy over it all. 

And fam, it’s a modern adaptation in many ways. Some aspects of the story have been changed to account for the shift in time, and to reflect the society that the story now takes place within. Flashing between 2022 and 1910, this time shift puts the story in a different century to that of the source material. While the original book was very White™, this version of Interview With The Vampire reflects a more realistic depiction of the actual demographics of New Orleans – where the story takes place. 

In this AMC+ adaptation, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) is Black, as is much of the community of which he occupies. This is a departure from the original source material, but a much needed one, and far too late indeed. 

We’re going to complete a full season review once the show finishes airing, however we were rather impressed with the changes made to this version, so we wanted to jump in and share our thoughts with you now. Giddy up folks, we’re about to introduce you to the overt gayification of a timeless vampire classic. 

They gay, your honor!

While the episode starts off a little slow, it’s absolutely necessary to lay the groundwork for building this world and ensuring folks understand the differences and changes that were implemented to the source material. 

So we urge you to hang in there. While the first half of the episode moves at turtle speed, the action picks up in the second half. And Interview With The Vampire wastes absolutely no time ensuring viewers everywhere know that these vampires, well, they are gay, gay, gay. 

While the vampires in the source material are heterosexual, gay undertones exist in the original book. In this show, there is no subtle suggestion or pathway for interpretation about the sexual orientation of the two male leads, or the nature of their relationship. Lestat (Sam Reid) is the gay vampire in town and he has his eyes set on Mr du Lac. Lestat doesn’t reveal that he is a vampire right off the bat, but he seduces Louis – who, before meeting Lestat, didn’t know he was gay – before dropping the V-bomb onto the situation. 

But by the time that Lestat’s true identity is revealed to Louis, the man has decided that he is way too hot for Lestat, and is in the throes of a great gay awakening. Being Black and gay in New Orleans in the 1920s isn’t exactly accepted, but the desire that flows between the two men is so strong that Louis is too far gone to stop. 

When Lestat finally reveals his vampire nature to Louis, the man does initially freak out. Lestat uses the moment to actually show Louis what a vampire is capable of and kills a couple of folks right in front of Louis – and fam, it’s a bloody, bloody business that Louis has gotten himself into. 

Louis is terrified, but he is also under the thrall of his hellish lover, and allows Lestat to seduce him all the way into turning into a vampire. The first episode comes to a close with Lestat sucking on Louis, and Louis, returning the action in order to change. Louis’ great gay awakening shifts to that of a great gay vampire awakening, and the man is have Many Feelings.

There is a very graphic sex scene in this first epsidoe as well, which occurs while Louis is still human. This is clearly a message to all the heterosexual fans that came to the series from the original source material. These vampires are gay, your honor, and this adaptation is not for anyone that might take issue with that fact. 

Thoughts on Interview With The Vampire

We showed up for the gay, but we’re staying for these incredible characters, the amazing writing, and the beautiful set design that creates this world. We are huge fans of all the changes that have been included in this adaptation. We think the characters and the actors that play them are now much more representative of what life in New Orleans is actually like: both then, and now. And frankly, a million times more interesting than their original counterparts.

We are utterly enthralled with Sam Reid, who plays Lestat. Australian and mysterious, Sam Reid brings a dangerous, yet romantic allure to the character of Lestat. Known for his charms in every adaptation of this story, Interview With The Vampire is absolutely no exception. 

His co-star, Jacob Allen, does an excellent job of bringing Louis to life on screen. The chemistry between the two of them is palpable. Their desire for each other makes it darn hard to look away from the screen. We’re pretty impressed that such an explicit, sexual gay story is taking place on Primetime television (despite the fact that it’s on a cable network). 

We are super interested and we can’t wait to see what this show brings to our screen every week for the next 7 weeks. 

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You can stream Interview With The Vampire now on the AMC Plus app, or wait for it to go live every Sunday night on AMC through your local cable provider. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!