Will the cast reprise their roles?


I have personally heard nothing about any of the actors wanting to work in another Anne Rice adaptation, but would imagine that most would indeed be interested.


THE LOOK OF THE CHARACTERS AND THEIR COSTUMES


Characters don't often look as they did in the books because this is a movie that hopes to stand on its own feet as an original creation, based on Anne Rice's amazing work. For example, we thought that Stuart Townsend's darkly sexy persona would translate into a terrific Lestat, and it did. However, Stuart looks better with dark hair than light. Because it's Stuart-as-Lestat, rather than the Lestat-as-on-the-page, he doesn't have blond hair. I know that some Anne Rice fans are already pleased. I hope that all of them will be engaged and stimulated, even when they don't agree with some of our changes.

Having already made Lestat a non-blond and Akasha non-Caucasian, we weren't that concerned about making the more minor characters match their written descriptions. We chose our Ancients with a focus for distinctive features, since they weren't going to be onscreen that much, and we wanted to differentiate them from the newbies. We felt very fortunate to gain Paul McGann's interest in the role of Talbot, and went with a younger approach to the role. I understand why these changes may be tough to accept for fans who have visualized the characters in their own minds for years, and again ask for you to consider our perspective, which is that the movie, while an adaptation, is its own creation, and entitled to many of the same creative liberties that other film adaptations have taken.

I was very surprised that so many people cared about things like a character's hair color, mainly because I never think about these things. My own focus tends to be more internal; I never visualize actors when reading a script, for instance. That said, I immediately understood that these characters are indelibly alive in your minds, and that (surprise) they look to you just like Anne Rice described them. I learned something from it, and will take care to remember it in the future. Vincent Perez had a long white wig and we all agreed he looked better with his own hair (short and dark). I would say that this type of case-by-case thing occurred with most of the actors. We never decided to deliberately change things as an artistic choice, or anything of the sort. The exception might be Jesse, whom we felt should be younger than Lestat, to better suit some of the themes that were important to us.

In every case, we started with the novel's description of how a character dressed. Some survived, like Marius; others were altered to look as if they were from their geographical origin, like Khayman; others are dressed according to what our story dictates — Armand rises in Pere Lachaise cemetery, promptly drinks the blood of some Jim Morrison worshippers, and absconds with their duds! (PLEASE NOTE: this last is backstory — we don't see it happen.) Now why does Claudia look like she's from Nepal or somewhere like that? Honestly? We all thought she was associated with such a locale from the novels. Not that she was born there, but that she spent time there, went to sleep there... I forget precisely what it was. Maybe it was a collective gaffe on all our parts.

I doubt that Lestat's blond hair is a basic element that attracted anyone to the story. More likely, it's an image that you have become comfortable with over the years, and are having a hard time shaking for the two hours you may spend in a movie theater. Our Lestat isn't blond because the actor playing him looks better with darker hair. As to who our audience will be: it is our hope that all Anne Rice fans come, and that this number is exceeded by those unfamiliar with her work.

My feeling is that the people who don't like the casting of Aaliyah because she's black have the same motivation as the people who don't like Stuart Townsend not being blond. They want everything just as it was in the novel. I've already explained how I feel about this elsewhere, and obviously I sided with those who prefer the most talented available candidate to someone who looks more like the role was described in the novel. That happened to be Aaliyah. I do think it's important that people remember that while bitching about Stuart not being blond comes off as merely fanatical and redundant, bitching about Akasha not being white could seem racist to some, and thusly offensive. Many people have indeed taken this into account, and gone to some pains to stress that their opinion is not racially motivated. If they say so, then I'm happy to leave it at that.

I agree that the color of these characters' hair is integral to their appearance in the novels. But they are not integral to their personalities. Personality — not hair color — is what a character is all about. So when we made our movie, we tried to remain faithful to the characters' personalities; their looks were secondary. Just as they are in life. To some people. For people who can't see Lestat beyond the color of his hair — meaning every single poster who has questioned his hair color, but not asked about his character — I say, don't be so shallow, or so rigid. Your perceptions may expand a little as a result.

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