Talking Story, Sex, and Rock and Roll on the Set of The Vampire Lestat
RT visited the set of the third season of 'Interview with the Vampire' and chatted with the stars and the creatives who brought the world to life.
Back in September 2025, the lovely folks at AMC invited Rotten Tomatoes to an exclusive set visit for The Vampire Lestat, the third season of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. Over the first two seasons, we watched Louis and Lestat fall in and out of love and attempt a little light murder, all while anchoring a cinematic recounting of one man’s search for the truth about who he is and what he has been through. The overarching theme of the first two seasons was that memory is a monster, and we assumed it would carry over into season 3, even though just about everything else looks to have changed.
At the time of our set visit, we had been gifted an exciting teaser trailer during San Diego Comic-Con in July of 2025, featuring Sam Reid as Lestat, unapologetically unstyled yet somehow picture-perfect, sitting down to what we assumed was an interview with Daniel Malloy (Eric Bogosian). We also learned that the third season was officially retitled The Vampire Lestat, and we got a behind-the-scenes featurette on the pre-production and composer Daniel Hart’s early work with Sam Reid, as well as casting announcements of Jennifer Ehle as Gabrielle, Christopher Heyerdahl as Marius, and Damien Atkins as Magnus. San Diego Comic-Con also confirmed Delainey Hayles (Claudia) and Assad Zaman (Armand) would return for season 3. Since then, there have been mock press releases, Daniel Hart/Lestat song releases, and some iconic trailer moments, but our work was set even before we knew what was to come.
In truth, book fans have known what is likely coming for all of these characters, but exactly how it would be executed by showrunner Rolin Jones was yet to be seen, and we got a glimpse of them hard at work trying to make it happen. On the day of the visit, we were ushered into the studio, which was unassuming on the outside but hosted a world of wonders. The offices of Interview with the Vampire are attached to the filming space. We spent the morning chatting with costume designer Lex Woods, playing in the costume department, and exploring the various sets, while background performers came in to be fitted for the next day’s shoot. The production was in the process of shooting episode 3, but the day was relatively light and mostly took place on Lestat’s tour bus, which you all can now see in the latest featurette.
For filming, we watched an interesting tracking shot that gave us a peek into Lestat’s consciousness, where most of the intrigue and action of season 3 lies. Whereas Interview with the Vampire was Louis’ version of events, The Vampire Lestat puts us inside the mind of the completely unpredictable, theatrical chaos agent that is Lestat. A chaos agent, we might add, at the height of his fury and desperate to set the record straight against Daniel Malloy’s gross mischaracterization of a book.
As Lestat is a consummate artist — the man literally dances onto the screen — there was no way he was going to tell his story with something as dreary and pedestrian as a novel. He would tell it through music, which is one of the reasons the folks at AMC thought it would be extremely helpful for us to speak with one of the very first collaborators that Rolin Jones brought on to season 3 to talk us through the early days of pre-production: composer, producer, and new-for-season 3 co-writer Daniel Hart.
Hart is a former rock musician-turned-composer who earned his undergraduate degree in playwriting and was a member of the writers’ room for season 3. Jones explained why he wanted to make sure that Hart not only continued to be an active part of the production early on, but was also in the writers’ room. “The relationship between the writer and the composer, on this particular show and in this particular season, is unique. [You’d be hard pressed] to go tell me a single show, a single season of television, that comes anywhere near what [Hart] has done this season.”
Jones went on to say that Hart is an author of the series as much as he and co-creator Hannah Moscovitch are, adding, “If there weren’t all sorts of guild rules [against it], the most honest, truthful set of credits we could have would be ‘Created by Hannah Moscovitch, Daniel Hart, and Rolin Jones.’ There’s also a writer’s room supporting this show. There’s Anne’s novels and great performances supporting it, but in terms of just the sheer volume, what you’re feeling and experiencing is those [three].”
When we spoke with Hart, he mentioned he first started working on season 3 in the summer of 2024. He was, of course, more humble about his work but did admit it was daunting. “I was wearing a lot of hats this season,” he joked, adding, “I did my usual job of composing the score for the show, and then wrote all the songs, and co-wrote on the scripts. I co-wrote episode 305 with Hannah Moscovitch and served as a producer on set. So I was super involved in this show, more than I’ve been in any project I’ve ever worked on in television or film.”
When we asked whether the scriptwriting was intimidating, Hart admitted he loved it and gave us a peek into how his background made it a natural progression. “I especially loved being in the writers’ room. I studied playwriting in school… I hadn’t done that kind of writing in quite a while, but being around the writers’ room table and talking to everyone through the books, scripts, and episodes, and plot points, I needed to dust some cobwebs off at first, but I felt like it came really naturally to me to be there and to be a part of it.”
And while he was mining inspiration from the writers’ room, Lex Woods, production designer Andres Cubillan, and Sam Reid were mining his tracks for their work. Reid talked about how recording the songs early helped him get into Lestat’s head, but the overall prep spanned many months and iterations. “I had all the instrument lessons and a personal trainer. I worked with Daniel, a vocal coach, and the band. And we were all in rehearsals before the show started. We’re just sort of forming a relationship with each other, getting to know the music, and building a real bond as a band, which has been really fun. It’s a very unique way of approaching a project because I got the songs before I got the script.”
Woods also mentioned that they used Hart’s work as background music while doing fittings and costuming as another way to feel connected to the production. “Rolin had played us a piece of music years ago in Prague when he was talking about where we were going for season 3, and we would play it and any other song we were given in the workroom where everything is being stitched. We’d play it in the breakdown room where people are painting off the costumes. It gives everybody a sense of what we’re working towards, because it takes an army to put this together.”
Cubillan, who joined the production this season, let us know that “Daniel would share versions of the songs as they were being completed. It gave me fantastic insight into what Lestat was thinking and feeling at a particular moment. The cadence, the emotion, the anger, and the production design needed to reflect that in a visual way.”
One of the other unique features of season 3 is that it spans centuries. We saw contemporary sets as as well as ones that go back to pre-revolutionary France. We spoke with Hart, Cubillan, and Woods about how their work was affected by history. Cubillan told us about the original look book, with over 1,500 images spanning 18th-century France to historical rock clubs, both from yesteryear and today. “For the clubs, I started with the places I knew. CBGB, The Viper Room, The Troubadour, The Echo. For the French chateaus, we decided to go with older ones from the 15th and 16th centuries. We saw 40 different places and finally landed on the Château d’Azay-le-Rideau and the Château de Blois as the key references.”
Rolin Jones also mentioned how they crafted the beats of the season, knowing how much time it covers. He told us he was “trying to take the essence of things that had happened in the past and occasionally taking the root of that and moving it forward. There are some scenes that take place, like with Gabrielle and Lestat in the past, that we have put on its feet here in 2025.” Just about everyone we spoke with said the scripts were the guide post for everything, but Jones told us that he does not spend a ton of time having conversations with department heads like Woods, Hart, or Cubillan. “It’s about trust. [Trust] that you made good hires and that people are inspired. A lot of the job relies on people because it is hard to do. The hours are wicked, the ambition huge, the schedule is tight, but when you trust, you can maintain a joyful, peaceful set.”
If Daniel Hart was the maestro of our musical season 3 alongside showrunner Jones and Moscovitch, then Sam Reid is the musician; Jacob Anderson’s Louis and Jennifer Ehle’s Gabrielle are essentially the muses. A huge part of what drives Lestat in recent previews is the slightly strange nature of his relationship with the latter, his mother. Though we won’t reveal any spoilers, it is also an essential storyline from the books, and walking that delicate line with pathos is the challenge season 3 faces. Reid talked a bit about Gabrielle and Ehle and what they bring to the set.
“There’s heaps to unpack in it. Lestat is potentially in a little bit of denial about how he processes his very complex relationship with his mother, which is, you know, mother and son, maker and fledgling, and then also lovers. Jennifer and I played that; it was just so much fun because there are so many dynamics and so many different ways you could play it, and very subtle pulls and twists and turns that you can do in a scene, because you just have the most fundamental relationship at its core, and then you have this whole other weird dynamic. Lestat is hypersexualized by his maker; he’s hypersexualized the straws of affection that he grasps for, trying to present that he hasn’t had a pretty traumatizing few years as his introduction into the world.”
At the time of writing, the show has already become quotable, as Reid prepared for various press events and people began quoting the first trailer released in the fall. The moment in question features a back-and-forth between Louis and Lestat in which they bicker exactly the way you would expect exes to do, with Louis being uncharacteristically cool and dismissive and Lestat being even more ensnared by it, ultimately telling him to “F off” in French.
That subtle shift for Louis we catch in the trailer is also something we spoke to Jacob Anderson about, and how this season’s Louis is different. “It’s hard to track these things sometimes. You have to really catch yourself on, and sometimes you say things that you’re like, ‘Oh, what, like, this doesn’t feel like Louis to me.’ And then you have to remind yourself, or sometimes it’s like Rolin and Hannah reminds me. [laughs] But that’s the point. This is how Louis is perceived by others.”
Anderson also mentioned that because of Lestat’s anarchic mind, we get a different version of Louis that Anderson very much enjoyed playing: “This season is all about correcting the record, as it were, and the Louis of season 3 is the Louis seen through Lestat’s eyes, and in the most romantic way possible. Lestat sees Louis as cooler than Louis sees himself.” He added, “There was one iteration of Louis that was my favorite version of him to play in this season. It was where Rolin was like, ‘You choose.'” We still have no idea where we will find this Louis, but we will be on the lookout.
One of the sets that we got to see was for Lestat’s home base, his bus. Because they are using parts of Canada to double for different places throughout the world and throughout time, one place where production designer Cubillan could play long term was Lestat’s tour bus, his physical moving coffin on wheels, where he is at his most vulnerable. Cubillan talked a little about the detailing he put into the design.
“I wanted this space to feel sexy and luxurious but very rock and roll, like a contemporary version of Led Zeppelin’s party plane.” He also used the location to offer a careful bit of storytelling about the inequity within the band. “The bus was the place where we could see the difference between how the band and Lestat lived. The band shares a filthy ‘party den’ while Lestat — rightfully — lives in luxury upstairs.” He went on to add that the luxury of Lestat’s living area was literally lush: “Custom velvet banquets, a suede-lined display case for his instruments, rosewood cabinetry, a custom ceramic cabinet for his keyboard that serves as a mini recording studio, including the same microphone that he Rolling Stones recorded their music on.”
Costume designer Lex Woods also discussed how she worked in close proximity with Cubillan here to ensure their work not only complemented each other but also was in conversation; this was just one of the many stakeholders who made the final product so successful. The best version of that collaboration, according to her, was the Parisian sets. “Paris and the 18th century were incredibly successful. We were hand-in-glove with the costume and art department, hair and make-up, prosthetics, the stunt team, and lighting. The show is shot so beautifully. David Tattersall (director of photography), is a genius.”
Though she didn’t offer many details on what scene she was referring to, we are anxiously anticipating it. We will also be on the lookout for the truth behind some anecdotes from Rolin Jones and Daniel Hart. Jones let us know that the 16 songs set to be released this season are brilliant, but the best is yet to come, as he already has tracks for the show if we get a season 4. But this doesn’t mean the season 3 music is a letdown, as Hart also shared some early reviews he received while on set. “It comes a little bit later in the season, but there was a song that we filmed where Lestat performs the song to the camera, and after the first take, a member of the crew was crying.” If that is not the most ringing endorsement for why we need to tune in on June 7, we don’t know what is.
The Vampire Lestat premieres June 7 on AMC.
