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

The Vampire Lestat Songs "Incredible": Jones on Music Being Big Factor

The Vampire Lestat Showrunner Rolin Jones discusses how music plays a role in the marketing and praises Sam Reid and composer Daniel Hart.

When we last checked in with AMC's Sam Reid, Jacob Anderson, Delainey Hayles, Assad Zaman, and Eric Bogosian-starring Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat (aka, "Interview with the Vampire" Season 3) Showrunner Rolin Jones, he was offering some (careful) insights into what's ahead for Anderson's Louis and Hayles' Claudia this season. Now, fans are getting a better perspective on just how much of a factor music will play this season, as well as how it will be the focus of the show's marketing. Spoiler? Jones makes it clear that we're going to be getting a whole lot of music – too much for only one season, in fact.

Speaking with EW for its 2026 preview edition, Jones shared that while he's not involved in those "big macro conversations," he's expecting "a pretty dynamic bit of marketing" for the third season that will spotlight Reid and composer Daniel Hart's musical might. "I'm sure Sam and [composer] Daniel [Hart] would love to do that. Those are logistical things, and those things are really hard to organize. I do believe that there are expectations and things, but I'm not really involved in those big macro conversations. But I do think that this will probably be a pretty dynamic bit of marketing this year. They're doing some things differently in an exciting way. Lestat front and center just means chaos, and chaos is coming," Jones teased.

As for the music itself, Jones had nothing but enormous praise to offer Reid, Hart, and the rest of the team. Noting that at the time of the interview that Reid was set to record "in a couple of weeks to finish out the job," Jones made it clear that the season will not be lacking for music. In fact, there is so much music that not all of it can be included in this season. "The songs are incredible. We recorded most of the things that were onscreen that we shot, and now we have a bunch of other things that Sam is recording in a couple of weeks to finish out the job. That's how massive it is," he shared.

Jones continues, "We have to have multiple versions of them because it ain't 'Glee,' you don't see it suddenly come up with a song from nowhere. You watch some of them get built in primordial fashions, and someone will perform, and then some of them you'll only see a minute of it, but they'll probably release a four-minute song from it. But we also have songs that we play all the way through, because we have enough story to support the singing of that song. There will not be a show with more music on it than our show. And we're not going to have every song written for this season on this season. Remember: Part one and part two!"

Previously, TV Insider had a chance to speak with Reid, Anderson, and The Vampire Lestat showrunner Hannah 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.'" Here's a look at the conversation:

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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