New York Comic Con always brings the goods, and NYCC 2025 is no different — the first extended trailer for The Vampire Lestat (formerly Interview with the Vampire Season 3) is here. With it comes our messy vampires doing the most, and it’s an absolute thrill to watch. In just over three minutes, you’ll see tons of new footage of the Brat Prince himself, from both the TV series’ modern timeline and his past. Yes, that includes his career as a rockstar. And yes, that involves a majorly bumpy journey down the Devil’s Road for Louis and Lestat. (In human terms, that translates to some soapy vampire melodrama, stemming from obvious trouble in what was not quite paradise.) All of the above adds up to a performance from Sam Reid that promises to be more deliciously over-the-top than ever before.
With all the shameless strutting on tour buses, the crowd surfing, the music, the lovers’ quarrel, and the bloody stop by a dirty concert venue bathroom, it might be easy to overlook the very beginning of this brilliant first look. But don’t. First of all, Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) tells us we’re not getting an Interview with the Vampire movie in this reality. Second: Hi, hello. Jacob Anderson. We don’t overlook his portrayal of Louis, ever. Sure, it’s Lestat’s turn to tell the story. But that doesn’t mean Louis won’t always be a major part of it.
MORE: See what we thought about IWTV Season 1 when we first reviewed the series.
A nice nod to canon and fandom reactions
Then, there’s this: Louis isn’t a fan of Daniel’s book — specifically how it depicts him after everything we saw in Interview with the Vampire Season 1 and Season 2. Although he’s not present in the scene to say so, Lestat also manages to make his opinion known. “He didn’t like the part about Claudia and him on the train,” Daniel says about our newly-crowned titular character as he cackles and opens up his book. Angrily scrawled across the pages: “NEVER F**CKING HAPPENED!!”
He’s right, and he should say so. Not to mention, Lestat’s ragey underlines and scribbled words are a nice nod to upset book lovers. The train scene never did happen in Anne Rice’s 1976 novel. It was purely made up for the TV adaptation. And for as wildly entertaining as Reid was in that scene, a lot of us who love Rice’s characters were a little bit “WTF” on that. Same goes for a couple of other changes. (Anyone else surprised, if we’re getting meta here, that Lestat didn’t use The Fire Gift on Molloy’s version of the book once he got to Episode 5?)
He’s also very correct about Santiago’s (Ben Daniels’) onstage “presence,” for what it’s worth. The meltdown over Armand, on the other hand? Let’s just say a vampire will literally start a band and make a documentary before he’ll go to couples’ therapy and admit he’s jealous. (Love the cackle, though.) Guess it’s a good thing they’re not calling this Interview with the Vampire Season 3 anymore, huh?
MORE: Read our first impression of Lestat’s rockstar era from SDCC 2024.
Cast updates: Who’s playing Akasha, more
The Sacred Core will be in good hands — a good brain, technically — as it was officially announced that Sheila Atim (The Woman King) will play Akasha.
We also know who will be a part of The Vampire Lestat’s band. Noah Reid, Seamus Patterson, Ryan Kattner, and Sarah Swire will play Larry, Alex, Salamander, and TC (Tough Cookie?), respectively.
Reid, Anderson, Bogosian, Assad Zaman, and Delainey Hayles will, of course, all return. It was previously announced that Jennifer Ehle will play Lestat’s mom Gabriella, and Christopher Heyerdahl is our Marius.
MORE: Assad Zaman was the perfect Armand.
Watch the first extended trailer for The Vampire Lestat Season 1 from NYCC 2025
The Vampire Lestat will premiere on AMC and AMC+ in 2026.
