‘Interview with the Vampire’ cast: Where Are They Now?

Interview with the Vampire came out in 1994 and immediately garnered critical acclaim and commercial success, grossing over $223 million worldwide. Its popularity can be attributed to its star-studded cast, fabulous cinematography and faithful adaptation of the beloved novel.

Directed by Neil Jordan, the movie was based on Anne Rice's 1976 book of the same name. The story revolves around a vampire named Louis de Pointe du Lac, who tells his life story to a reporter.

The narrative spans several centuries and delves into themes of immortality, loss, and the struggle between good and evil. When director Neil Jordan was asked why he cast Tome Cruise in the lead role, Jordan said, “I saw, I suppose, that Tom's life — because he was the biggest star in the world at the time — he has to retreat to the shadows because he can't expose himself too much. I saw kind of a parallel between the life of a vampire and the life of a very, very big star, let's put it that way.”

Rice, the book’s author, wasn’t instantly pleased with the casting choice, but after she saw the movie, she agreed Cruise was a good it. Here, we look back at the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ cast and what they’ve been up to since.

Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt

CHARACTER PLAYED: Lestat de Lioncourt

BORN: July 3, 1962, in Syracuse, New York

BEST KNOWN FOR: Top Gun (1986), Rain Man (1988), A Few Good Men (1992), Mission: Impossible franchise, (which began in 1996), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999), Minority Report (2002), American Made (2017).

PERSONAL: Cruise was previously married to Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes. He has three children.

THOUGHTS ON INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: Cruise remembers balancing parenthood and acting at the same time. His daughter Isabella (who was only one at the time) was on set and didn’t recognize her dad with all the make-up.  Reflecting back Cruise said, “I had her sit on my lap as they made me up so that she could see I was her daddy. Then I’d show her pictures of Lestat and I’d say, ‘who is this?’ and she’d say, “daddy!’”

Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac: Interview With The Vampire cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Louis de Pointe du Lac

BORN: December 18, 1963, in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Thelma & Louise (1991), A River Runs Through It (1992), Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Ocean's franchise, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

PERSONAL: Pitt divorced from Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. Pitt has six children with Jolie.

THOUGHTS ON INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: Pitt said rehearsal was really hard, admitting, “I am miserable. Six months in the f—ing dark. Contact lenses, makeup, I’m playing the b---- role…There was no script. I knew the book, and in the book you have this guy asking, ‘Who am I?’ Which was probably applicable to me at that time. ‘Am I good? Am I of the angels? Am I bad? Am I of the devil?’”

“London was f—ing dark. London was dead of winter. We’re shooting in Pinewood, which is an old institution — all the James Bond films. There’s no windows in there. It hasn’t been refabbed in decades. You leave for work in the dark — you go into this cauldron, this mausoleum — and then you come out and it’s dark. I’m telling you, one day it broke me. It was like, life’s too short for this quality of life. I called David Geffen, who was a good friend. He was a producer, and he’d just come to visit. I said, ‘David, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it. What will it cost me to get out?’ And he goes, very calmly, ‘Forty million dollars.’ And I go, ‘Okay, thank you.’ It actually took the anxiety off of me. I was like, ‘I’ve got to man up and ride this through, and that’s what I’m going to do.’”

Kirsten Dunst as Claudia

CHARACTER PLAYED: Claudia

BORN: April 30, 1982, in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Jumanji (1995), Bring It On (2000), Spider-Man trilogy (2002-2007), Melancholia (2011), the TV series Fargo (2015) and Civil War (2024)

PERSONAL: Dunst is married to actor Jesse Plemons; together they have two children.

THOUGHTS ON INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: “Brad Pitt was like an older brother to me. I was treated like a princess. Yes, it was a virtually all-male set, but everyone was very gentle and kind, and nothing ever felt weird.”

MUST READ: Kirsten Dunst Movies, Ranked: 10 of the Luminous Star’s Greatest Roles

Antonio Banderas as Armand: Interview With The Vampire cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Armand

BORN: August 10, 1960, in Málaga, Spain.

BEST KNOWN FOR: The Mambo Kings (1992), Desperado (1995), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Pain and Glory (2019).

PERSONAL: Banderas was married to Melanie Griffith and they have one daughter.

THOUGHTS ON INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: Banderas was an actor in Spain before coming to America and making movies in English, a language he was not proficient in. He said, “I never felt like I was suffering as a foreigner, but the language was obviously a tremendous handicap. At least I could learn the lines and go perform. But my normal everyday life became very complicated. I would get invited to meet with other actors who I admired, to visit their homes. I would feel incapacities because I couldn’t express myself.”

Stephen Rea as Santiago

CHARACTER PLAYED: Santiago

BORN: October 31, 1946, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

BEST KNOWN FOR: The Crying Game (1992), Angie (1994), Michael Collins (1996), V for Vendetta (2005) and The Miracle Club (2023)

PERSONAL: Rea was married to the late Dolours Price, a former Provisional IRA member.

Christian Slater as Daniel Molloy: Interview With The Vampire cast

CHARACTER PLAYED: Daniel Molloy

BORN: August 18, 1969, in New York City, New York.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Heathers (1989), Pump Up the Volume (1990), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) Broken Arrow (1996), Hard Rain (1998), and the TV series Mr. Robot (2015-2019), for which he won a Golden Globe.

PERSONAL: He has been married twice and has two children.

THOUGHTS ON INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: "Tom Cruise and I were both surprised that Interview With The Vampire didn’t get a sequel," Slater said to Comicbook.com’s Chris Killian. "You know, that would have been fun. Uh, I mean, he did bite me at the end of that thing."

MUST READ: Christian Slater Movies, Ranked: 9 of the Hollywood Bad Boy’s Best Roles

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