We’ve already gotten a strong dose of actor Sam Reid performing the rock star model of Lestat. There are the teasers we get within the trailers, in fact, and you’ll hearken to unique songs “Lengthy Face” and “All Fall Down” to get an additional dose of the vampire’s angst. It’s sufficient to clarify that Reid embodies Lestat’s musician persona effectively, and in a press convention hosted by the Tv Critics Affiliation that I attended, he shared how he channeled that attractive rockstar power.

In Reid’s thoughts, the core of Lestat’s penchant for efficiency goes again centuries. “His onstage persona is constructed within the 18th century… it’s the French iteration of the Commedia dell’arte, and that’s the place I place him as a performer,” he mentioned. “Something that goes past that’s an extension of that character, as a result of I really feel like that’s the place he constructed his stage presence.”

A kind of extensions concerned Reid watching David Bowie carry out “Cracked Actor” at dwell concert events. He did so, nevertheless, to “remind myself that [Lestat’s] not human… I simply bought to be sure that I don’t overlook that generally, as a result of there’s much more vulnerability on this season than we’ve had earlier than, so I simply wished to verify we keep that he’s a form of different factor, which I believed David Bowie simply does terribly.”

Lestat’s stage presence additionally modifications because the season goes on. “I wished to verify it felt nonetheless theatrical in a method, as a result of he’s nonetheless performing the thought of a rock star, at the least at the start. And because the present progresses, the efficiency begins to vanish, after which I simply actually give attention to the books and [showrunner Rolin Jones’] work, and the songs that Daniel Hart wrote, and making an attempt to hone in on that, and pull the man out of these issues.”

You’ll be able to see Reid’s efficiency of Lestat’s efficiency (after which his efficiency of Lestat’s vulnerability) when The Vampire Lestat premieres on AMC and AMC+ on June 7, 2026.