‘Interview with the Vampire’: The movie that Brad Pitt said “messed with my psyche”
Throughout his illustrious career, Brad Pitt has always managed to stand out even in films that boast star-studded casts. While recent examples include Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, Pitt has demonstrated his star appeal from the very beginning of his journey as an actor when he had to take minor roles. That’s one of the primary reasons behind his meteoric rise to the top of Hollywood.
Having collaborated with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney, Pitt’s on-screen dynamism has contributed to his impressive versatility as an actor. Although he was viewed as a sex symbol during the first half of his career due to the popularity of Thelma & Louise, the American star has adapted to the passage of time by subverting his own image. This is evident in the 2022 action comedy Bullet Train, where he brilliantly played an unconventional, reluctant action lead.
However, even for an actor of Pitt’s stature, there are projects that just don’t work out, and one such example is Interview with the Vampire. Based on Anne Rice’s eponymous novel, the 1994 flick starred Pitt opposite Tom Cruise, which was viewed by many as a sign of guaranteed success before it was released. Defying most expectations, Neil Jordan’s movie ended up as a critical failure due to its inability to capture the spirit of the source material.
During an interview, Pitt opened up about the arduous production process. He said: “Vampire was a tough shoot. I finished Legends of the Fall and went straight into that. First of all, the whole thing was in the dark. In New Orleans, we shot for three months in the dark – we shot all nights. There’s an opening scene in the movie that’s daylight, and that’s it. The whole movie is in the dark. And it really started to mess with my psyche.”
Acknowledging the lack of narrative structure, the actor added: “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?’ In the book, it is a guy going on this search for discovery. And in the meantime, he has this Lestat character that he’s entranced by and abhors. But then I got the script two weeks before we started shooting.”
Despite being a box office success and earning Oscar nominations, Interview with the Vampire is almost never brought up when discussing either Pitt or Cruise’s respective artistic legacies. It is mostly remembered as an example of the limitations of cinematic adaptations, serving as a guidebook on what to avoid when embarking on such an endeavour.
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