With The Vampire Lestat, Interview with a Vampire fans witnessed Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) pursue his rock star ambitions in a bloody and wild tour across North America. In real life, Reid got a taste of the attention his character craves with The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only – LIVE.
As advertised, Reid performed songs from The Vampire Lestat — written by Daniel Hart — before a live audience for one night only. Mashable was there. In my review of the event, I wrote, “Reid’s onstage persona evoked David Bowie, Mick Jagger, and Steven Tyler, as he crooned, strutted, flipped his hair, flung a scarf, and generally oozed sex appeal with a crooked grin.”
But, what was it like for the man behind the mic? Trickier than you might have dreamed.
In my latest interview with Reid, he dug into The Vampire Lestat‘s finale, where the series might go next, and what it was like for him to take to the stage in character as Lestat.
“It’s funny,” Reid said, “These things — it’s very work for me, you know what I mean? I am not a touring musician. I’m an actor, and so I’m playing a character. I’m going out there, promoting a show. It was wonderful to be able to play that music with those musicians, namely Daniel Hart. I’m really proud of his music, and I think he worked his ass off in this season. So I’m really proud to share it.”
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Reid went on: “It’s quite easy to play Lestat for me, you know. So there was a level of ease about it, because I’m not having to go out and share my own personal music and bear my soul.”
This distance allowed Reid to focus on his character over any nerves about performing live. “There was a joyful thing about just operating in this meat puppet that I know how to play around with, and perform it.”
Reid also revealed an obstacle that many fans might not have considered as they watched him strut and sing. “I had contact lenses in [for Lestat’s vampire eyes],” Reid explained. “I had in-ear monitors, so I couldn’t really hear much or see much.”
However, as AMC prepares the live show for its on-app launch, Reid has finally seen his performance with his own eyes. “I’ve just been watching the recordings of it recently, which are going to get released soon,” he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, look at that. We did that!’ Because I don’t really remember it. It’s hard for me to put it into words how it was, because I was partially blind and deaf most of the time.”
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only – LIVE debuts on AMC+ on Aug. 23.
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