Robert Downey Junior as The Vampire Lestat?
- Thread starter Captaindemotion
- Start date
^ I liked them all up to Memnoch but found it turgid and repetitive. Around this time, Rice gave a bizarre interview to Rolling Stone, where she claimed that this novel was her saying goodbye to Lestat and that she'd had a conversation with him etc. Then she took out some full page rambling open letter to then-President Bill Clinton and it became evident that she was off her trolley. When she decided to say hello to Lestat again, I decided I was no longer along for the (trolley) ride.
A couple of things about the RDJ story occurred to me. Firstly, given that Tom Cruise was at one stage linked to play Iron Man, he must now be hating Downey! 'Stop stealing my roles, dude!'
Secondly, this must be the first example of a studio deciding to reboot a series by casting an older actor (unless you count Roger Moore replacing Sean Connery as 007; maybe Harrison Ford taking over from Jack Ryan). Tom Cruise is now 47 and was about 32 when IWTV came out. Stuart Townsend is now 36 and was about 29 when QOTD came out. RDJ is now 44 and will be about 45 - 46 if this movie takes another year or two to complete. Waaaaaay older than the other Lestats were when those movies came out. At least they can't be accused of cashing in on the Twilight/ teen vamp craze! But why not just re-hire Cruise?
Thirdly, I wonder if Rice and her novels have missed the boat as far as vamp adaptations go. True Blood has borrowed the Louisiana setting of Interview, while the Buffy & Angel series borrowed the homo-erotic blond/ brunett, flamboyant/miseryguts dynamic for Spike and Angel (with Dru as their version of Claudia, I suppose). IMHO, any of them have been better than the cinematic versions of Rice novels.
I used to like the Rice novels but now they seem so dreary and serious, pompous, even. Admittedly, those aren't adjectives that apply to RDJ but I'm not entirely convinced that they'll get them right third time around.
And speaking of True Blood, it's kind of a shame that that show has gotten Alexander Skaarsgard first - now there's a Lestat if I've seen one!
A couple of things about the RDJ story occurred to me. Firstly, given that Tom Cruise was at one stage linked to play Iron Man, he must now be hating Downey! 'Stop stealing my roles, dude!'
Secondly, this must be the first example of a studio deciding to reboot a series by casting an older actor (unless you count Roger Moore replacing Sean Connery as 007; maybe Harrison Ford taking over from Jack Ryan). Tom Cruise is now 47 and was about 32 when IWTV came out. Stuart Townsend is now 36 and was about 29 when QOTD came out. RDJ is now 44 and will be about 45 - 46 if this movie takes another year or two to complete. Waaaaaay older than the other Lestats were when those movies came out. At least they can't be accused of cashing in on the Twilight/ teen vamp craze! But why not just re-hire Cruise?
Thirdly, I wonder if Rice and her novels have missed the boat as far as vamp adaptations go. True Blood has borrowed the Louisiana setting of Interview, while the Buffy & Angel series borrowed the homo-erotic blond/ brunett, flamboyant/miseryguts dynamic for Spike and Angel (with Dru as their version of Claudia, I suppose). IMHO, any of them have been better than the cinematic versions of Rice novels.
I used to like the Rice novels but now they seem so dreary and serious, pompous, even. Admittedly, those aren't adjectives that apply to RDJ but I'm not entirely convinced that they'll get them right third time around.
And speaking of True Blood, it's kind of a shame that that show has gotten Alexander Skaarsgard first - now there's a Lestat if I've seen one!
I personally feel that True blood is the closest thing we will see to Anne Rice vampires. I waited nearly 20 years to see blood tears. Interview didnt have them but True Blood most definitely does. I was telling my wife that Eric and Bill very much have a Lestat Louis thing going on.
I dont think I would like RDj as Lestat. But then I couldnt picture Brad Pitt as Louis and that turned out ok. Lestat is young and beautiful but with a bit of Androgyny going on. I always pictured a 1970's David Bowie as my favorite vamp.
I dont think I would like RDj as Lestat. But then I couldnt picture Brad Pitt as Louis and that turned out ok. Lestat is young and beautiful but with a bit of Androgyny going on. I always pictured a 1970's David Bowie as my favorite vamp.
The problem with some sci-fi fans is that they're terribly preoccupied with the actors matching the appearance of their beloved characters, and only secondarily concerned with them providing good performances appropriate to the material (which is the screenplay and direction, not the novel or comic book).
^ To be fair, it's not just sci-fi fans. I think a lot of people who really like a novel, of any genre, will have a cinematic version of that novel in their head. When a cast deviates from that, fans, who can be quite possessive of a property, get upset. Witness the reaction to Cliff Richard as Heathcliff (in his stage version), from fans of Wuthering Heights or from 007 fans to Daniel Craig as James Bond. Guess which one managed to overcome superficial dissimilarities with a compelling performance?
Sci-fi and comic fans don't have identical views but have been welcoming of many performances or castings where the actor doesn't necesarily resemble the original depiction. Ian McKellen as Magneto, Heath Ledger as The Joker, Liam Neeson as R'as Al Ghul, RDJ as Iron Man or Chris Evans as The Human Torch come to mind. None of them look exactly - or in some cases at all - like the way their characters were depicted on the pages, but their performances were generally well received.
Part of Lestat's attraction is that he's an ageless, eternally youthful vampire. RDJ is a wello-lived in 40 something, looking every one fof his years. It's part of the same reason why James Marsters has said he can no longer reprise the role of Spike. I do think Downey is a great actor, one of the most watchable leading men around but I just don't see him having Lestat's persona. He's quirky, funny, likeable and offbeat. Lestat is effete, preening, occasionally childlike but frequently dangerous.
At the end of the day, if you're going to ignore the appearance and characteristics of the character you're adopting for the screen, why bother calling him/ her after that character? Why not invent your own?!
Sci-fi and comic fans don't have identical views but have been welcoming of many performances or castings where the actor doesn't necesarily resemble the original depiction. Ian McKellen as Magneto, Heath Ledger as The Joker, Liam Neeson as R'as Al Ghul, RDJ as Iron Man or Chris Evans as The Human Torch come to mind. None of them look exactly - or in some cases at all - like the way their characters were depicted on the pages, but their performances were generally well received.
Part of Lestat's attraction is that he's an ageless, eternally youthful vampire. RDJ is a wello-lived in 40 something, looking every one fof his years. It's part of the same reason why James Marsters has said he can no longer reprise the role of Spike. I do think Downey is a great actor, one of the most watchable leading men around but I just don't see him having Lestat's persona. He's quirky, funny, likeable and offbeat. Lestat is effete, preening, occasionally childlike but frequently dangerous.
At the end of the day, if you're going to ignore the appearance and characteristics of the character you're adopting for the screen, why bother calling him/ her after that character? Why not invent your own?!
I LOVE True Blood, but Eric/Bill so far only have the hate part of the love/hate equation
