Sam Reid Confirms the End of an Era for ‘The Vampire Lestat’: “That Chapter Is Closing”

Editor’s note: The below interview contains spoilers for The Vampire Lestat finale.

It may seem hard to believe, but The Vampire Lestat took its final bow tonight with the premiere of its season finale. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been on quite the wild ride, courtesy of none other than Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) himself taking over primary narrating duties, but, instead of ramping up to a climactic concert, the season’s curtain call becomes more of a surreal, emotional meditation.

As Lestat is forced to grapple with his greatest failings as a vampire, a maker, a lover, a human being, it doubles as a trip down memory lane, with reappearances from characters you likely never expected to see again. One cameo, especially, serves as the closure Lestat needs to better understand his on-again, off-again companion Louis (Jacob Anderson), while another sequence may very well have put an end to his immensely complicated dynamic with Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) — but at the end of it all, the experience of nearly dying and being brought back to life is poised to change Lestat forever, right as AMC’s vampire thriller is on the verge of moving into a completely new era.

Ahead of the premiere of “The Failures,” Collider had the opportunity to speak with Reid about some of the biggest revelations Episode 7 unearths for Lestat regarding his failures, the major shifts in his most important relationships, how much he knows about where the show is headed, and more.

COLLIDER: The conceit of the finale, at least for Lestat, starts with a dinner party at the long table with his fledglings, the “failure finders.” What did you enjoy about getting to look back at some of Lestat’s most defining moments from previous seasons through this new lens?

SAM REID: “Enjoy” is a strong word. [Laughs] It’s the framework of the whole season, this long table, from when he has the apparition of Baby Jenks falling above the ceiling in Episode 1. She says, “They’re coming for you,” and he says, “Who’s coming?” Magnus tells him that they’re eating his soul at the long table, getting towards this place where Lestat does finally accept that he has failed fundamentally as a human being and as a vampire. This character who has such a joie de vivre and attempts to brush off all trauma, and every time, he hits the floor. He rises out of a burning car, and brushes his shoulders off, and keeps going. That’s his modus operandi.

Then, it’s all coming to a grinding halt where he is dying, physically dying, and in his death, acknowledges that he has failed as a vampire and as a human being, and as an individual. So, whether or not that’s the real figure or that’s his own reflection on his life, it’s kind of sad because it’s a closing. It’s a ribbon around this character’s mental state, but that does lead him to acknowledge that he is responsible for this post-apocalyptic event, that he’s recording this Failures album to whoever it is that has bought the recording.

It’s loads of fun to see the actors who we had in the show throughout multiple seasons, who you haven’t seen for five years, turn back up again. Also, because the long table’s caricatures of those characters were so grandiose and so fun and twisted and grotesque, like Lestat in that space, as well. So, it’s a really fun, kind of wacky place to do it all.

Sam Reid Explains Lestat’s Big Speech in ‘The Vampire Lestat’s Finale

“I know I have all of these faults, and I know that they are inescapable and irredeemable, but at least I am trying.”

Image via AMC

When the long table pivots to the concert, Lestat does have that declaration of, “I was pretty fucking great,” but then he says, “If I failed, that means I actually attempted something.” What did it mean for you to have Lestat come to that conclusion about himself? It feels like it brings the whole season full circle, in a way.

REID: Exactly. But then you look at the whole speech. He says, “Even if you hated me, even if you found me too grotesque in the way that I loved and the way that I desperately needed your love and attention, even if you feel these things about me, at least I was trying. I know I have all of these faults, and I know that they are inescapable and irredeemable, but at least I am trying. At least I tried. And actually, I think I was pretty fucking great,” but immediately he’s hit by, “No. You can’t have that.”

And then, as he is truthfully dying, what does he remember? In that last bit, he goes, “Might be nice. Hands touched.” He remembers Louis. This is the one thing. He loves Louis so much, but he doesn’t know that [Louis] loves him, and it’s driven him crazy. It’s driven him down this whole rabbit hole of chaos in the whole season that we’ve just watched because it does drive him wild. He needs validation so much for a variety of reasons, which hopefully, people sort of understand why now. That’s what he remembers. And then he starts to die, and then he realizes that as he’s dying, he has fully failed. He cannot even form a structural sentence correctly; he’s caught up on the grammar. And as he withers away, it is a petering out of this very outwardly confident character.

So, I thought it was a really beautifully structured little speech, and really fun because you kind of get the whole mental context of why he’s performing as this rock star. He’s like, “No, I’m going to redefine myself one more time. That’s why you’re the opening, and I’m the headliner. Thanks very much.” And the song is playing, but he can’t get to the song. He can’t put the performance on anymore. His body is physically dying, and then that withers away, and then what is left is a semblance of peace and understanding that he cannot succeed, that he cannot go forward, and that he has accepted death, and maybe death is a beautiful thing.

When Paul walked out, I had a very emotional reaction. It’s so unexpected, but it’s really just quiet and lovely. There are also moments of humor, too, like when he has to add, “I still wish you were a woman,” and then you have that line of, “Me too, sometimes.” What was it like to get to play that quietly impactful moment with Steven [G. Norfleet]?

REID: Steven Norfleet is amazing. He’s an incredible actor and is so beautiful. His voice is like honey in your ear. It’s just extraordinary. It’s such a beautiful resolution for Louis and Lestat for it to be Paul, because the last time Louis said “I love you” to somebody was Paul, and he committed suicide shortly afterwards. So it does give Lestat a closure and an understanding of Louis better. He’s like, “I’ve been pushing and pushing and pushing for validation from this person who I love,” without giving him a full acknowledgment of his own traumas and his own understanding, because he’s been so self-absorbed and wrapped up in his own need for love and validation. He doesn’t need to hear “I love you” from Louis anymore because he knows he loves him. He just knows that Louis has got a lot of issues there, a lot of pain. It’s very beautiful.

Going forward, now that they have both survived, I don’t think Lestat’s going to be pushing him that much. He’s not going to be like, “Just say that you don’t love me.” They understand each other better through their near-death experiences. So, it’s incredibly beautiful in that regard. I just thought it was so mind-blowing. And that has always been bubbling there underneath the surface in the references to the birds, and there’s been so much Paul beating underneath the heart of the show, so it was really lovely for him to appear in that moment.

‘The Vampire Lestat’s Sam Reid Explains Why the Finale Is a Major Turning Point for Lestat and Gabriella

“He doesn’t need to be seeking approval from the fundamental person whose approval he’s always needed.”

Image via AMC

After Louis and Lestat get put back together, they have that brief moment on the tour bus, but then it’s almost drowned out by the cacophony going on outside. The vampires are getting rowdy. Gabriella is saying Lestat has to perform, and he starts screaming at her, and then the scene cuts off on him calling her a “fucking monster.” It feels like an unleashing of emotion that we’ve never really seen him direct right at her, especially on the heels of what happened last week. What do you think Lestat’s reaction to Gabriella in that scene signals about how his feelings towards her are shifting?

REID: I think he’s obviously learned something pretty fundamental at the long table. I think he was probably pretty ready to die, and then he has been brought back to life to, once again, act on behalf of other people and on behalf of Gabriella, or on behalf of the Talamasca, who want him to perform his concert for their own reasons.

So, he has been brought back to life, and there is a semblance now where he does feel loved. He has woken up and realized, “Where’s Louis? He loves me. This is my safe place, and hopefully I am his safe place, as well. I am loved, and I’m not going to do this anymore.” He doesn’t need to be seeking approval from the fundamental person whose approval he’s always needed, who has directed his life from the beginning, and has sent him down all of these really bizarre avenues in life. I think that’s really clear in the long table where they say that he has two makers. Magnus left. Magnus committed suicide. He was not there. He transformed Lestat, but Lestat turned his mother into a vampire very quickly, and so he and his mother have remained mother and child, maker and fledgling, from almost their conception as vampires. So, he doesn’t really understand the world without seeking her approval, but he doesn’t necessarily need it anymore.

That means now that chapter is closing, which is exciting. One, that means a lot to Lestat, because who is Lestat now on his own, and how long will he be able to stay on his own before he’s brought under the wing of somebody else? Because he is a lover, for all intents and purposes. And unfortunately, because he loves so deeply, he does end up getting very swayed by the ones he loves. But it also means something for Gabriella, as well, because to close that chapter or to feel like she no longer has that sway over Lestat, it might mean that that character has a different level of growth and has room now to go in a different direction.

The last shot of the finale — what a way to tee up another potential season. Has Rolin given you any kind of hint as to what to expect from a Season 4?

REID: Yep. [Laughs] If we’re lucky enough to get one, if we did go on, yeah. We talk about this stuff all the time because I can imagine it’s frustrating for an audience wanting everything as soon as it’s there, and wanting everything all the time. But we are adapting a huge breadth of material, and the way that they adapt these books, it’s very detailed, and they put a lot of thought into it.

Yes, I need to know what is going on. Where is he when he’s making those recordings? What has happened? Where is he in the story? Where does that lead to? These are the things that I need to know, so we do talk about them at length. Why are we seeing certain things from his past in certain ways? Why have they been represented in such a fashion? What is he fundamentally trying to unpick when he looks back in a certain way to what it relates to where he is right now? Why is he examining his failures? Why is he examining why he is not successful as a vampire or as a human? Why are we looking at that in that lens? Where are we? It’s very important to me to run to understand, so yeah, I know a lot, but I can’t tell you beyond those things.

All episodes of The Vampire Lestat are now streaming on AMC+.