Run by Rolin Jones, the show is based onAnne Rice’sThe Vampire Chronicles.
Seasons 1 and 2 adapted book one,Interview with the Vampire.
Season 3 will adaptThe Vampire Lestatand parts of the next book,The Queen of the Damned.
Perhaps this is because Anne Rice’s son, Christopher, input into their creation.
The show’s biggest changes to the books somehow express their key messages perfectly.
This is a superficial change, at first glance, because most of the story occurs during flashbacks.
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
It isn’t quite the case that the show updated a 1970s story for the modern day.
This is more than just respectful of the source material.
Louis and all vampires in Anne Rice’s novels represent the underdog, as Anne Rice confirmed.
Based on Anne Rice’s novel series that began in 1976, Interview with the Vampire is a gothic horror fantasy series that explores the life of Louis de Pointe du Lac through an interview with a journalist. Told through flashbacks of Louis' life during the interview, the series examines Louis' relationship with the vampire that turned him, Lestat de Lioncourt, and a teenage girl named Claudia, whom he turns. The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.
The 1700s Louis of Rice’s Southern Gothic horror novel makes total sense, creating rich, gothic imagery.
However,Jones' race swap accomplishes many things.
It makes Louis even more Louis - an outcast who sympathizes with those that society oppresses.
The TV show represents this monologue with flashbacks, naturally.
Set in 2022,the TV show could have easily kept Anne Rice’s 1700s story.
Anne Rice’sInterview with the Vampirewas published in 1976.
The show brought everything forward, proving its commitment to its messaging.
Then, in the modern day,Louis moves his capitalistic endeavors to a renowned hub of moneymakers- Dubai.
Kirsten Dunst played a baby-faced Claudia inInterview with the Vampire, the 1994 movie.
However,the TV show’s update of Claudia made her far more versatile.
However, they don’t stay together until the 1970s, which is when Daniel interviews Louis.
Armand is the focus of the sixthVampire Chronicle,The Vampire Armand.
In the TV show, Armand manipulates Louis into staying with him until the modern day.
In some ways,this is the show’s biggest and most consequential difference from the books.
This is a clever move, in many ways.
Daniel’s romantic importance is a key plot equipment, while it is marginal in the books.
However, the show knows its strengths and builds on this telenovela atmosphere while never losing depth of theme.
Louis finally finds a peaceful happiness withthe troublesome Lestat de Lioncourtby the end ofThe Vampire Chronicles.
This version of Daniel is fit to lead the story that Louis really leads in the book.
Giving the show an older character as its lead was an incredibly interesting choicein and of itself.
Daniel’s importance in the show is at the core of its premise.
It is this intrusion that means thatLouis and Daniel never resolved their work together in the ’70s.
The series is the first of Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe media franchise.
