Listen up, Lesmand lovers – Sam Reid has a lot to say.
The polarizing “Interview With the Vampire” and “The Vampire Lestat” pairing (Lestat + Armand = Lesmand) has one of the prickliest and most puzzling bonds in a story full of toxic-yet-tantalizing relationships. It’s also one of the longest-running in the story so far, dating back to the very beginning of Lestat’s vampire afterlife, from his time with the Children of Satan and the Théâtres des Vampires, as depicted in Season 2, all the way to Lestat’s 2025 rockstar road show in “The Vampire Lestat.”
That deep well of history and complexity is an evident source of passion for Reid, who gave an eloquent and impressively in-depth answer when TheWrap asked: Why, after such a tortured history with tragic losses, does Lestat still get more enjoyment out of toying with Armand – say, with a sexy blood shower and a bawdy diss track – rather than trying to kill him?
“Oh, wow, I don’t think he could kill Armand. I think that would be difficult, but maybe he could, maybe he has that power in him,” Reid pondered. “I think he’d rather see Armand suffer than a quick and easy death.”
According to Reid, it’s also reflective of a deeper mindset about the vampire kind for Lestat: “I don’t think Lestat’s pro-vampire dying anyway. He’s not like Louis. He doesn’t have that kind of, ‘let’s kill him,’ [mentality]” the actor explained. “I think for Lestat, killing vampires – unless you’re a s–tty regional vampire – those old great ones, I don’t think he would want to kill. He has respect for Armand in that regard.”
“I think it’s great fun for Lesat to play with Armand in that way. I mean, that’s their dynamic. I think they both get a kick out of it,” Reid continued. “I think they do complete a part of each other that is necessary for one another. I think that knowing that he can really rile Armand up in that way, you know, he gets a real kick out of it.”
Assad Zaman, who plays Armand, says it’s not a one-way street either – Armand is getting a little bit of a kick out of it, too.
“They have this brilliantly complex history,” Zaman said. “Lestat obviously loves teasing him and taunting him, and I think, in a way, Armand kind of enjoys it himself. There’s a little bit of that. There’s a cattiness there.”
But it’s not all fun and games (and the occasional tragic death that haunts them forever). Reid dug into the existential reasons that two eternal creatures like Armand and Lestat need each other to keep going. From the destruction of the Children of Darkness to the trial that ended Claudia’s short, bitter life as a vampire, Armand and Lestat are ever at ideological odds, and that gives them something to fight for.
“Armand speaks to a self-destructive element in Lestat that is part of his ignition. He also knows exactly why Armand is there,” Reid said about their Episode 4 tour bus meeting. “He knows exactly what he’s doing is wrong. He knows he’s breaking the rules again, as he’s always done. He’s been the rule breaker. Armand has been the goody-two-shoes who follows the rules and is weirdly obsessed with law, which is kind of so irrelevant and has no value whatsoever.”
“But Armand, bless him, is just trying to put meaning in their totally meaningless existential existence, and Lestat’s just like, ‘Dude, just have a good time.’”
Finally, Reid pointed out that it’s not just that Lestat is toying with Armand, he is probably actively trying to rile him up so he has something worth fighting against – and in turn, something to do while dancing through eternity.
“Because Armand is like the mouthpiece for this sort of weird vampire cult, and how you live and how we operate, you know, they give each other meaning. Then, Lestat has something to rebel against,” Reid explained. “Then, he is a rebellion. Then, he is a character that can create change. You can’t create change if everyone’s on your side.
“So they complete each other in that capacity. And in a way, he wants to probably rile Armand up, to bring an army up against him, and do all of the things that he does. Because it’s good to have an enemy. Because if you have an enemy, then you have something to fight against, you’ve got purpose. I mean, they live forever.“
Jacob Anderson, who stars as Louis de Pointe du Lac, former paramour to both Lestat and Armand, agreed the mess they bring to each other’s lives is part of what makes those lives worth living after all this time – even when it crosses a line.
“They’re so messy, and they need to be messy in order to give purpose to their existence, to give a sense of meaning to this all,” he shared. “And it goes too far sometimes, like Claudia – but I think that’s part of why Claudia’s death is such a monumental earthquake, is that she’s gone.”
“They have to clash and contrast and, like, collapse into each other and collide and destroy each other, but then come back, and that’s what this is.“
“I suppose the answer is also in the lines,” Reid continued. “He does say, you know, ‘I knew it would torture you, I want to see you tortured. I want to see you suffer. Like, I want that. I want to see you f–ing beg,’ which is really the best response that Armand can get out of Lestat. It’s worse when Lestat is like, ‘Oh, I don’t give a f–k about you. Goodbye. I’m not interested in you.’ And then, Armand is getting him to react, to react, to react to the point where he has to deal with him.“
Anderson, who by his own admission has had “reductive” ideas about the character before, also says he’s actually loving the character’s role in the story this time around.
“I know I’ve definitely had some pretty reductive ideas about Armand in the past, but I think this is the fun of him,” he said. “I love Armand in ‘The Vampire Lestat.’ I will just say that I think it’s such a delicious thing in this season.“
Viewers got a taste of whatever that “delicious thing” is at the end of Episode 3 and with Episode 4, Armand is officially back in the fray – rebuffed by Lestat, clearly on a mission with his amends, and tangled up in some kind of mystifying bond with Daniel. What will he do next? Nobody knows, and that’s what makes Armand such a compelling watch.
The post Sam Reid Goes Deep on Lestat and Armand’s Sick Symbiosis: ‘They Give Each Other Meaning’ appeared first on TheWrap.
