Posted in: AMC, TV | Tagged: The Vampire Lestat

The Vampire Lestat: Niecy Nash-Betts on Becoming IWTV "Obsessed"

All's Fair star Niecy Nash-Betts explained how she became "obsessed" with AMC's Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat.

As popular as AMC's Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Delainey Hayles, Assad Zaman, and Eric Bogosian-starring Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat (aka, "Interview with the Vampire" Season 3) has become, the "Anne Rice's Immortal Universe" series has found even more viewers once the first two seasons hit Netflix. During a special one-on-one for Complex in support of Hulu and Ryan Murphy's legal drama All's Fair, Kim Kardashian and Niecy Nash-Betts covered a wide range of topics to help determine some of the best and worst things ever – and that's when we learned that Nash-Betts has become an "obsessed" fan.

Beginning at around the 6:20 mark in the video below, Kardashian and Nash-Betts tackle "GOAT Song or Show Your Kids Have You Secretly Obsessed With," with Nash-Betts sharing that her daughter got her started on "Interview with the Vampire" when it hit Netflix. "And my daughter begged me. I mean, 'You have to watch it, Mom. Please, Mom. It's… it's… they're queer vampires, Mom. You know, you're queer, Mom.' All the things," she shared. "So, well, and then once I started watching it, I was like, 'Okay, you're obsessed. Now, I'm obsessed." Here's a look at the conversation:

And here's a look back at the teaser for AMC's The Vampire Lestat that was released near the end of October:

The Vampire Lestat Tracks Will Get "Talamasca" Tease: Lafferty

Confirmed by co-showrunner Mark Lafferty during an interview with EW, the fifth episode of Talamasca: The Secret Order that's set to air on November 16th (S01E05: "The Puzzle Palace") will give viewers a chance to listen to "a track or two" from Lestat. While discussing how The Vampire Lestat, "Talamasca," and Mayfair Witches will weave characters and storylines together, Lafferty advised fans to listen very carefully to the music playing in the background. "If a viewer is listening very closely in episode 5, they might hear something coming through the speakers of a bar that is a direct tie to another of the series, and might also give somebody some residuals from Talamasca," he shared. "If they're listening at just the right time, they just might hear a track or two that comes from Lestat."

Previously, TV Insider had a chance to speak with Reid, Anderson, and Moscovitch, with Reid and Moscovitch having nothing but love and high praise for Reid's turn as Lestat the Rockstar. "He's wonderful. What do you mean? I mean, it's like there's something. I have to keep reminding myself to not just go up to Sam and gush all the time and be like, 'Well, dude…' I think I've said to you [to Reid] a few times, right? Like, it's so remarkable and special, and Sam works really hard, but there's something that's just very natural about it," Anderson shared about Reid's performances. Moscovitch noted, "There's always a point where one of the directors, like anyone who's new who comes on, pulls me aside and is like, 'What the f**k about Sam and Jacob?' 'And I'm like, 'Yeah.'" Anderson added, He's doing an incredible job. And it's like everybody, everybody, around the set is like, "'He's the real deal.'"

In fact, Reid's performance earned him a fanbase among Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat cast, the crew, and the creative team. "People clap like after multiple takes," Anderson shared. When Reid joked that maybe they shouldn't hype up expectations too much, Anderson doubled down on his praise of his co-star. "It's really special and I've not really seen anything like it. And people are involuntarily clapping at the end of takes like the live that and Sam [Reid], someone will be like, 'You don't need to do that. And I don't know you [to Reid] realize that like people are like [starts clapping] you know?" he added, noting that Reid was getting some great reactions from everyone on the set.

Checking in with Variety Studio during San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), the team covered a ton of topics regarding what's to come, and we have some of those highlights to pass along. Reid and Jones did a great job talking up just how surprised fans would be at what they were getting during the panel, considering they've only been filming for about a month. From there, they address just how important support from the LGBTQ community has been, Jones teases "ancient vampire power" being unleashed during Season 3, Reid addresses if the Queen of the Damned will come into play, Bogosian shares what it's like shifting into vampire mode, Reid discusses what it was like giving into the music before seeing a script, and some of the season's musical influences.

The Vampire Lestat: Lestat's Mom Makes Major Season 3 Impact

Checking in with EW, Jones, Reid, and Anderson discussed how Composer Daniel Hart has crafted some real "earworms" (including a song that sounds like it might have some Chappell Roan influence), how the music is used in a way that matters, and – in a wild change in topic – the impact that Lestat's mother, Gabrielle, will have on things (spoiler: think in terms of a asteroid).

Daniel Hart's Chappell Roan-Vibing Song and Other "Earworms": Reid –  "[Composer] Daniel Hart did tell me a couple of months ago that he spent an entire week listening solely to Chappell Roan, and I think there's probably a song that feels quite like her. He's written earworms."

Season 3 Will Be Music-Heavy But Not Just "Dropped In": Jones – "What you didn't want is songs just dropped in. Quite often, we would build scenes and story arcs around songs that Daniel wrote and said, 'I think Lestat would have sang this' … He's on a rock tour, so songs will be sung. A lot of them are on-camera performed, and then a lot of them are tied to memories that we have, and sometimes we get super weird with them. And sometimes they're wallpaper, too, for storytelling."

Reid, Anderson, Jones on Gabrielle's (Lestat's Mother) Season 3 Impact: "It affects him greatly. She's definitely here," Reid teased about Lestat's mother, with Anderson adding, "If you know, you know." While storyline details were on lockdown, Jones said that viewers should expect Gabrielle to have a significant impact on the season. "She's coming in like an asteroid in season 3. She's about to destroy everything in her wake," he shared.

Interview with the Vampire: Sam Reid on Season 3

With filming currently underway, Reid offered some interesting insights heading into SDCC weekend regarding what viewers can expect from his Lestat, the rockstar, when the series returns. As we've learned, Lestat isn't going to let Louis (Anderson) and Daniel's (Bogosian) book be the final say on what went down, tackling a world tour to help get his side of things out. And while we're not sure if SDCC will be the place, Reid noted to EW that fans could be getting to sample Lestat's rock vocals sooner rather than later. "You'll probably be hearing some music," he shared. "I hope people are happy. You know that some people are never going to be happy, but all we can do is approach it with love and care, which we are. There's a lot of love and care being put into it." Here are some highlights from the profile piece:

Reid on Lestat, The Rockstar (and How He Wouldn't Be a Big Twisted Sister Fan: "A rock star is no more different than an actor on the 18th-century stage — it's just the same thing in different periods. You could just look at Twisted Sister and question, 'What is going on there?' But that's not a reference! So no one panic. We're not doing that — just thinking about rock star clowns, they're a good example [smiling]. I don't think Lestat would think much of Twisted Sister, which is unfortunate."

Reid on Working with Composer Daniel Hart for "Quite a Long" Time: "I've been with him, working with him on the songs first. It's been a really interesting way to approach a character, by coming in through the music to start with, before we had any scripts. Trying to work out the character's arcs through the songs has been an adventure in itself."

Reid on Lestat's Musical Influences: "Lestat is a bit of a mercurial character himself, and there's something very interesting about a character who would love to play a symphony as well as a David Bowie song. How he incorporates all of his influences and how he discovers his personal sound is part of the journey of the show."

Reid on Rock Music/Vampire Connection: "There's something inherently vampiric about rock music, and that's not really necessarily what is the flavor of the month at the moment in terms of what is desirable in music. And so there's something about harking back to sounds that might feel from different periods, but also trying to bring them back into the now and the contemporary, but also tie them into his own personal journey. Because I think at the end of the day, Lestat is a musician that writes from personal experience."

Also joining the cast for the 2026-premiering "The Vampire Lestat" are Jennifer Ehle (Lioness) as Gabriella, Ella Ballentine (Black Conflux) as Baby Jenks, Jeanine Serralles (Apples Never Fall) as Christine Claire, Christopher Heyerdahl (Under the Banner of Heaven) as Marius, and Damien Atkins (Slings & Arrows) as Magnus. Also, Sheila Atim (The Irregulars, The Underground Railroad) is officially set as Akasha, the first vampire in existence. In addition, Noah Reid (Schitt's Creek) is set as Larry, Ryan Kattner (Destroy All Neighbors) is set as Salamander, Seamus Patterson (Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities) is set as Alex, and Sarah Swire (The Boys) is set as TC.

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