Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 297

SMILE Director and Robert Pattinson to Remake Cult Horror Film POSSESSION

Over the past several years, it seems like they’ve remade almost every ’70s and ’80s horror classic. Probably some you’re not even aware of. (Someone remade John Carpenter’s The Fog, for reasons). Yet one cult horror film from that era has remained untouched by the remake craze, until now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 1981’s Possession is getting the remake treatment soon, as Smile filmmaker Parker Finn and Robert Pattinson are joining forces to remake the supernatural thriller. Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski wrote and directed the original. Pattinson is on board as producer, and may also star in the film.

Oliane Productions/Marianne Productions/Soma Film/Warner Bros.

The original film wasn’t your typical ’80s horror movie. It wasn’t even a financial success in its day, only achieving cult hit status over time, thanks to home video. Possession took place in West Berlin, and featured future Jurassic Park star Sam Neill as a spy who returns home to his wife and son. This meditation of martial drama eventually spirals out, and before you know it, there are strange doppelgangers and a tentacled alien. So, not exactly Friday the 13th. The U.K. banned Possession, and an American release cut out a third of it to be less bizarre. We must say however, it does sound exactly like the kind of weird stuff producer Robert Pattinson would totally be into.

Parker Finn is riding high after his directorial debut Smile became the biggest horror hit of 2022. That film cost $17 million to produce, and made $217 million at the box office. It was originally intended for Paramount+. Yet wiser heads prevailed after positive tests screenings, and Smile made quite a return on investment for the studio. And now Finn is making the sequel. So it seems Finn is using his Smile clout to do his version of the relatively obscure cult film. It remains to be seen if the final film could possibly live up to the strangeness of the original, which was made in a completely different climate for horror films.

The post SMILE Director and Robert Pattinson to Remake Cult Horror Film POSSESSION appeared first on Nerdist.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Shares Open Casting Call for Live-Action Toph

Basically every Avatar: The Last Airbender fan feels excited for the moment when Toph Beifong comes to live-action in season two of the Netflix series. Ever since Netflix announced the live-action series, conversation about who should play Toph has circulated. While everyone might have their own individual fan-casts, Netflix is widening the search. In an exciting move, Netflix has put out an open casting call for individuals who might be good matches to play live-action Toph on Avatar: The Last Airbender season two.

We are searching for a performer to play the role of TOPH! Casting notice is below — get to it Twinkle-toes! pic.twitter.com/he2n42UoFQ

— Helen Shang (@helenshang) June 11, 2024

The Toph casting call notes that the character is “mid-late teens, blind, female, and Asian.” It adds that Toph “is sassy, confident, and unfiltered. For most of her life, her strength and formidable earthbending skills have been suppressed, but now, on the run as the Avatar’s earthbending master, she is uninhibited to become the fierce warrior she believes she is inside. Dance and/or martial arts experience a plus.”

Nickelodeon

In bold, the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender Toph casting call emphasizes, “Actors who are blind or low vision are encouraged to submit.” Indeed, it would be amazing if Netflix cast a blind or low-vision actor in the role. We applaud the streamer’s efforts to cast live-action Toph inclusively and authentically.

If you would like to submit yourself to the Toph casting call, “Please email DTCOpenCall@gmail.com with a recent picture, resume or a one-paragraph bio, along with your name and phone number. Please feel free to share any lived experience with blindness/low vision if you are comfortable doing so.”

We can’t wait to learn who will play Toph when Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender returns for season two.

The post AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Shares Open Casting Call for Live-Action Toph appeared first on Nerdist.

CREATURE COMMANDOS Sets December 2024 Release Window on Max

In an exciting update from James Gunn, we’ve learned that the DCU’s Creature Commandos series will be released in December on Max. Previously, the most we knew was that the series was eyeing a fall 2024 release. But now, we know for sure that Creature Commandos, the first official piece of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU, will arrive on Max in December 2024. So, it’s definitely time to get excited.

Warner Bros. Animation/DC Studios

Gunn additionally shared that Creature Commandos would pick up directly from where the Peacemaker season one finale left off. The series will see Amanda Waller recruiting “a ragtag band of misfits” (and monsters) for her “clandestine morally questionable mission.” It seems characters from Creature Commandos will also appear in other DCU projects like Superman. And once these characters appear, they’ll carry the same history, actor, look, and more throughout their time in the DCU.

We can’t wait to see more from the series. For now, we just feel glad to know when we can expect Creature Commandos to release.

The post CREATURE COMMANDOS Sets December 2024 Release Window on Max appeared first on Nerdist.

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman Confirmed for PRACTICAL MAGIC 2

Two of Hollywood’s biggest stars will soon return to make movie magic again. Practical Witch magic, to be specific. Warner Bros. Pictures has announced it’s finally making a (movie, not TV) sequel to its beloved 1998 film. And original stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman will reprise their roles as the Owens sisters.

@warnerbrosmovies

Can’t talk, busy summoning Practical Magic 2. 🪄✨

♬ original sound – Warner Bros. Movies

Warner Bros. went to TikTok to announced its producing a long-awaited followup to its beloved witchy drama. Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsmith (A Beautiful Mind) will write the script for Practical Magic 2. More important is the possible involvement of two other Oscar winners. But happily, Kidman confirmed they will both return for Practical Magic 2.

Speaking to People, which we say via Deadline, Kidman noted, “Yes, I will be in it. And Sandy will be in it. And that’s that. There’s a lot more to tell, which is why we go, ‘OK, this is kind of interesting now to be able to do this.’ [We] found a way in.” That’s that!

Warner Bros.

Could Practical Magic 2 have been successful without them? Maybe, but it will be far more magical now that the duo will be back as the Owens sisters.

Originally published on June 10, 2024.

The post Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman Confirmed for PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 appeared first on Nerdist.

Bonnie Langford Discusses Rejoining DOCTOR WHO For Season One Finale

Companions don’t stick around forever, but few of Doctor Who‘s costars feel as “we hardly knew ye” as Melanie Bush, played by Bonnie Langford. Initially appearing on the show, in a timey-wimey way, after she’d already met the Doctor, Mel only stuck around for six stories, a total of 20 episodes, from 1986-1987. But no one’s ever really gone in the Whoniverse, and the accomplished stage actor returned to the series 35 years later with a brief appearance in “The Power of the Doctor.” Little did we know, Mel would get bumped up to proper costar in “The Giggle.”

Now, Melanie returns for “The Legend of Ruby Sunday,” the first part of Ncuti Gatwa’s first season finale. Nerdist spoke to the delightful Bonnie Langford about getting to continue Mel’s story, joining UNIT, and being present for the game-changing “bi-generation.”

BBC

Nerdist: At what point did you learn that you would not only come back for “The Giggle,” but you’d be coming back for multiple episodes?

Bonnie Langford: Well, let me think. [Showrunner] Russell [T Davies] just sent me the scripts and I just moved everything to be able to do it. It was very exciting. In fact, actually I was doing another show at the time. I was doing a musical, Anything Goes, and so I had to duck out of it for a couple of weeks. But yes, so Russell said, oh, we want you in the season finale of the Ncuti season, which is terribly exciting because we felt that we’d set up this whole UNIT thing as well.

Mel had been given a little bit of a slight backstory, but not too much. But now she has a job, she has a purpose, she has a place, and to be able to revisit it again [was great]. We had such a good time on “The Giggle.” I was really thrilled to be able to go back and she’s quite intrinsic to the plot, which is a gift that every actor dreams of.

You said around the time “The Giggle” came out that you were just excited that Mel got a job.

I had a computer job, a job that she actually could be doing, something that was supposedly her skills because she’d never been given that before.

BBC/Disney+

You obviously played Mel again in audio form over the years. Did you have an idea in your own mind before this, what Mel would’ve been up to?

You never really knew. But it was great to be able to do the audio dramas and sort of develop those different avenues as well. And to keep in touch with her, really. It was a bit like sending postcards. I could do those things. So when it came to, they asked me to do a little tiny scene in “The Power of the Doctor” with Jodie Whittaker. It was as if, oh yeah, this is nice. I wonder what she’d looked like. And we moved her on a little bit. And then the same with “The Giggle,” and she found her place. She’s still rooted in the past. She’s got all that wealth of experience, but she’s very much up with the generation, the current generation, and wanting to look to the future.

So yeah, I think it was nice to revisit her, to be able to help her grow. She’s grown. Not as sort of perky and irritating as perhaps she was before. And she’s not a scaredy cat, she’s much more calm, much more grounded. And yet she still has this joy and dedication and devotion really, to the Doctor.

I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I checked to make sure, but I believe Mel is the only companion who is present at multiple Regenerations. Yeah, that adds Mel to the history books, I guess.

(Delighted gasp) I love that. That’s great. Yeah, no, at one point I thought Mel was the one who sounds terrible being with most Doctors, but I don’t think she is at the moment. But you never know, because I was, I’ve worked with, well with Colin and Sylvester, obviously with Jodie, although I wasn’t in a scene with her, with David, with Ncuti. And I did a one-off special for Children in Need with Jon Pertwee. So six is quite a lot. She gets around too much.

BBC

Well that’s the headline.

You might call her flighty.

What was it like in “The Giggle” shooting the big bi-generation, pulling the Doctors apart along with Catherine Tate?

Wild. It was wild. I’m so grateful to have been present. It was very exciting. A lot of people were there. Suddenly Russell was there and everyone, Ncuti was very excited and anxious as well. But he brought such great energy and he and David just got on like an absolute house on fire. They were talking a lot. They both trained at the same drama school in Scotland. So they were talking all about that. They had that in common.

It was a very jolly celebratory atmosphere because I suppose it wasn’t really the ending that it normally would be. A new beginning, but it wasn’t final for anybody else. It wasn’t like, oh, you are leaving, bye. It was all still, oh, there’s so much hope here. And we had a lot of fun. Sun was shining all those days. We did quite a few days on it as well.

What was your impression of Ncuti and the new production during those first scenes?

It felt like the show was going to be in great hands going forward, and it seemed very exciting. Ncuti and I really just connected from the word go. So that was brilliant. I’d never met him before, but I was a great fan of his work. It just kind of came out of nowhere. And I think there was a lot more laughter than was expected. I think that brought such an extra beautiful dimension to that whole scene was that there was this fear, there was this wonder, there was this fear of the unknown, but then at the same time, suddenly, oh wow, this is exciting. This is jolly. We just laughed a lot because it was the unexpected. Yeah, it was great.

BBC/Disney+

After being there for Ncuti’s first day on set, what was it like coming back and seeing how he had grown as the Doctor for the finale of the season?

Well, I mean, he certainly got his feet under the table. It’s very difficult. You take over a part or you start re-create a part and everyone’s saying, well, whatcha going to do? Whatcha going to do? And you think, ‘I dunno till I get there.’ It was great to see that he’d found different styles. I love the fact that he blends, he embraces wherever he’s going to be. He doesn’t wear just one costume. It’s going to be difficult for the fans with all the cosplay. It’ll cost a fortune! But he definitely is a person who wants to blend in with whatever environment that he’s with, that he’s the Doctor that wants to be part of that world, literally as they would say in The Little Mermaid. But he, and yet he still is very much this larger than life, beautiful spirit.

Last question: you have obviously spent a lot of time with many Doctors. Do you think there is something that Ncuti has that they all have had in terms of what it means to be The Doctor?

Yeah, I think it’s a sincerity. It’s sincerity and authenticity and in whatever form. And also inclusivity in a world where lots of the time people are not seen or heard. And it’s a way of, I think there was a beautiful line in one of the first episodes, I think it was of this season where he says, people aren’t monsters. I shouldn’t be frightened of anyone. It’s just someone I haven’t met. There’s a lot to learn from this. It’s very poetic. The show has always been about trying to help us to be better people, those that watch it, that you sort of might take something in that you go, oh, hadn’t thought of life that way before. And he is very much an advocate of it being a show for everyone, but also to learn from everyone and to embrace everyone.

BBC/Disney+

And we can still be our own individual self. So we embrace our individuality, but we also embrace everybody else’s as well. And yeah, I think it’s, what he brings to it is this wonderful spirit of inclusion of all generations too. And that’s different about the show is that it has that legacy that is from the past. So it goes back to the past because we are here because of what happened in the past, whether that be good, bad, or indifferent. And maybe we can change that in the future going ahead. Sometimes we have to revisit that past to be able to deal with it, to put it to bed, or to change ourselves going forward, pay it forward differently. And that is very much suit and it’s very much part of this show, and I’m really proud to be part of all that.

Doctor Who drops at 7pm ET on Disney+.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

The post Bonnie Langford Discusses Rejoining DOCTOR WHO For Season One Finale appeared first on Nerdist.

A San Francisco House in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Is an Anne Rice Easter Egg

[image error]

AMC’s Interview with the Vampire serves up lots of Easter eggs for fans of The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice. In episode five of season two, “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape,” we get one that’s fairly obscure to even some of the biggest fans of Rice’s novels. In the series, the interview in question is actually a “round two.” Eric Bogosian plays Daniel Molloy, the reporter interviewing the titular vampire, Louis (Jacob Anderson). “Round one” of the interview took place in 1973, just as in the original novel. In episode five, we get a proper flashback to that interview, and the house it takes place in looks exactly like the home that inspired Rice over 50 years ago.

Heading home from SF…but before I go, I had to make a pilgrimage to this 1888 Victorian home on Divisadero St., where a brilliant young writer imagined a 200 year old vampire dwelled, who looked out this window and told an anonymous boy his tragic life story. #RIPAnneRice pic.twitter.com/XYpHNt0j8N

— Eric Ansley Diaz 🏳️‍🌈 (@GeekBoyEric) December 12, 2021

In Anne Rice’s 1976 novel, the vampire Louis gives his interview to an unnamed boy reporter (played by Luke Brandon Field). The interview occurs in a house on Divisadero Street in San Francisco. This is near where New Orleans native Rice was living at the time with her husband, the poet Stan Rice. Louis is said to be looking wistfully out of the window at traffic going by the busy street. A street to this day filled with popular bars and shops of all kinds. Rice chose the 1888 Victorian house because she thought it reflected Louis himself. It was an old-fashioned creation standing among neon signs and modern life, an anachronism blending into the background.

AMC Networks

Anne Rice never gave an actual address for the house in the novel, just the street it was on. However, in The Vampire Companion: A Guide to Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles by Katherine Ramsland, she finally says where the house she imagined Louis gave the interview was. It was a Victorian home with a stained glass window, on Divisadero not far from Haight Street. The Vampire Companion shows an illustration of the house, but not a photo or an address. But it didn’t take ardent Rice fans long to discover which house it actually was. The Vampire Companion all but drew an “X” as to where it was in fact.

Warner Bros.

The 1994 film version of Interview with the Vampire still had Louis give the interview in San Francisco. However, it was from an apartment on Market Street instead (which you can see above). The producers of the TV series clearly knew about the house on Divisadero Street which served as inspiration. They either filmed there (unlikely) or created an exterior that matched it. Why is that address important? Given the significance of the Vampire Chronicles series to the LGBTQ community, it matters that Divisadero Street is where Castro Street ends. And Castro Street is one of the original gay neighborhoods in America. So tipping the hat to the house that inspired Anne Rice to imagine a vampire looking out its window? That was a very nice touch.

The post A San Francisco House in INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Is an Anne Rice Easter Egg appeared first on Nerdist.

WATCHMEN Animated Movie Gets Comics-Accurate Trailer

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is still widely considered the greatest graphic novel ever written. In the years since its 1986 publication, the deconstructionist superhero drama has sold millions of copies, and spawned a big-screen adaptation from Zack Snyder in 2009, and a television sequel on HBO in 2019. Oh, and a few comic book sequels, including Doomsday Clock, where Dr. Manhattan takes on Superman. Now, a new animated adaptation of Watchmen is on its way from Warner Bros. Animation, done in two parts. They’ve released the trailer for Watchmen Chapter I, which you can check out right here:

From the look of things, this seems an extremely faithful adaptation of the source material, with images lifted straight from the comic book page. Then again, Snyder’s Watchmen was exactly the same in this regard, with scenes lifted directly from the book as if they were storyboards. We suppose the big difference here is there will be slightly more comics-accurate costumes for characters like Nite Owl and Silk Spectre. Perhaps this animated adaptation will use the original ending, which involved a giant telepathic squid killing millions in Manhattan. The animation style looks almost exactly like the 2D/3D blending of Marvel’s What If…? series.

Warner Bros. Animation

As for why this animated Watchmen movie is in two parts, the answer is simple. These animated DC Comics features from Warner Bros. Animation are always budgeted to be 80 minutes long at most. And that is simply not enough time to adapt such a sprawling story. This is why Batman: The Long Halloween is two parts, and before that, The Dark Knight Returns. The latter ended up being a pretty great adaptation, and remains severely underrated. We’ll see if Watchmen can follow suit. One thing’s for sure — Alan Moore’s name won’t be on it, and he probably wishes this wasn’t happening. And he doesn’t want you to ever ask him about it. So don’t.

Watchmen Chapter I releases later in 2024.

.youtube-embed{padding-bottom:56.25%!important;position:relative;overflow:hidden}.youtube-embed a,.youtube-embed iframe{display:block;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute}.youtube-embed iframe{border:0}.youtube-embed img.youtube-cover{-o-object-fit:cover;object-fit:cover;height:100%;width:100%;cursor:pointer}.youtube-embed img.play-button{width:66px;position:absolute;left:46%;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;cursor:pointer}@media only screen and (max-width:499px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:45%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:425px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:44%;width:60px}}@media only screen and (max-width:375px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:43%;width:56px}}@media only screen and (max-width:345px){.youtube-embed img.play-button{left:42%;width:50px}}.youtube-embed .progressive-img{-webkit-filter:blur(10px);filter:blur(10px)}.youtube-embed .progressive-img.loaded{-webkit-filter:none;filter:none;-webkit-transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;transition:-webkit-filter 1s ease-out;-o-transition:filter 1s ease-out;-moz-transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out;transition:filter 1s ease-out,-webkit-filter 1s ease-out}.youtube-embed .kskdDiv{display:none!important}

The post WATCHMEN Animated Movie Gets Comics-Accurate Trailer appeared first on Nerdist.

Stephen King’s THE INSTITUTE Gets Series at MGM+

Fifty years ago this year, Stephen King published his first novel, Carrie, and American popular fiction was never the same again. In that time, over 60 movies based on King’s work, and almost as many TV series, have come out. Now, we can add another one to that expansive list. MGM+ has announced a series order for The Institute, a drama thriller based on King’s novel from 2019. The series comes from director Jack Bender (Lost) and executive producer and writer Benjamin Cavell (The Stand). Cavell also produced three seasons of Mr. Mercedes, also based on a King novel. The Institute will feature eight episodes, and among the cast are Ben Barnes and Mary-Louise Parker. You can read the official synopsis for The Institute below:

When 12-year-old genius Luke Ellis is kidnapped, he awakens at The Institute, a facility full of children who all got there the same way he did, and who are all possessed of unusual abilities. In a nearby town, haunted former police officer Tim Jamieson has come looking to start a new life, but the peace and quiet won’t last, as his story and Luke’s are destined to collide.

Sribner

Ben Barnes plays the character of Tim Jamieson, described as “a disillusioned ex-cop who takes a job as the night knocker in a small town, withdrawing from the world.” Luke’s kidnapping gives him something to care about and believe in again, and he finds a new purpose. Mary Louise Parker’s character is Ms. Sigsby, a “charming but iron-willed director of the Institute and a true believer in its awful mission.” Like any good villain, she thinks she’s the actual hero of the story, and that history will vindicate her actions. Production commences for The Institute in Nova Scotia later this year. The series is scheduled to premiere in the latter half of 2025.

The post Stephen King’s THE INSTITUTE Gets Series at MGM+ appeared first on Nerdist.

New DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Deluxe Figure Gives Us Our Best Look at Masked Logan

Often, the parts of superhero movies the studios are terrified of spoiling in trailers are revealed months in advance via toys. And the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine is no different. This collector’s 1/6 scale figure from Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles replicates the look of Hugh Jackman’s Logan from the film, complete with the iconic mask from the comic books at last. Although we’ve seen the mask before in certain promotional images, this figure is the best idea we have outside the film itself as what Jackman will look like in his full comics-accurate Wolverine regalia. You can check out several images, as well as read the official description, below:

Click To View Gallery Sideshow Collectibles/Hot Toys Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles Sideshow Collectibles/Hot Toys Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles Sideshow Collectibles/Hot Toys Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles

The screen-accurate collectible action figure is crafted based on the appearance of Wolverine portrayed by Hugh Jackman from the upcoming theatrical release, features a newly developed masked head sculpt with interchangeable lower faces showcasing different expressions, a highly poseable muscular body, arms made in silicone material with seamless elbows design, carefully tailored costume that replicates his battle outfit, multiple interchangeable hands with attachable bladed claws for additional posing options.

This Deadpool & Wolverine figure includes one newly developed masked head sculpt with three interchangeable lower faces, a screen-accurate facial expression, and detailed beard and skin textures. Wolverine stands at approximately 31 cm tall, and a body with over 30 points of articulation. They made the arms from silicone material with seamless elbow joints. There are 6 pieces of interchangeable hands including one pair of fists, one pair of relaxed hands, and one pair of open hands. The Deluxe Edition comes with a Hugh Jackman maskless face sculpt, as well as sleeves.

Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles

The costume is a yellow, navy, and black color Wolverine suit with weathering effects. It comes with one set of body armor, including chest guard, shoulder guards, and gauntlets. Logan also has one pair of navy and black colored boots. Of course, Logan has a pair of bladed claws (attachable to the back of the hands). A specially designed figure stand with the movie logo and character nameplate is also part of the package. The price for this bad boy is $280.00, and $340.00 for the Deluxe Edition, with shipping expected April to September 2025. You can click here to pre-order the Hot Toys Deadpool & Wolverine figures.

The post New DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE Deluxe Figure Gives Us Our Best Look at Masked Logan appeared first on Nerdist.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 2 Reveals Armand’s Backstory

Interview with the Vampire season two has finally ventured beyond the confines of Anne Rice’s first novel. In the second season episode “No Pain,” we get our first taste of the backstory of the Vampire Armand (Assad Zaman), the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac’s companion. This flashback scene, taking place in the 18th century, comes straight from Rice’s second vampire novel, The Vampire Lestat. In episode four of season two, “I Want You More than Anything in the Word,” we get even more hints into Armand’s past. And episode five, “Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape,” gives us the biggest clues into Armand’s less-than-savory past deeds. But before we get to that, here’s a reminder of how Armand was a stealth character in season one of Interview with the Vampire all along.

Armand’s Interview with the Vampire Introduction

Interview with the Vampire ended its first seven-episode season at roughly the halfway point of the novel, although things played out in very different ways. One twist in particular resonated loudly with readers of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Many fans wondered when the Vampire Armand, one of the series’ major book characters, would appear on the show. Turns out, that character has been there in the margins all along, ever since the very first episode. In the season one finale of Interview With the Vampire, Rashid, Louis’ supposedly human assistant, reveals himself to be the Vampire Armand. But just who is Armand?

AMC Networks Posing as Louis’ Servant Rashid

In the first episode of Interview With the Vampire, viewers meet a mysterious character named Rashid (Assad Zaman) who is at the vampire Louis’ beck and call. Seemingly a human servant, we’ve even seen Rashid in direct sunlight. Well, direct sunlight coming through windows. He also fed Louis animal blood. We also saw Louis feed on him directly, suggesting Rashid was a human blood bank for him. He was seemingly a devout Muslim who nevertheless called Louis “a god.” He didn’t speak much in episodes one through six, appearing as a protective human familiar. Like a less neurotic version of Guillermo from What We Do in the Shadows. And since there was no Rashid in the novels, viewers assumed he was an all-new character invented for television. Little did anyone suspect that in Interview With the Vampire, Rashid was really a well-known character from the book called Armand.

Rashid Is Really the Vampire ArmandAMC Networks

In episode seven, however, Louis revealed to Daniel the truth about Rashid—a truth Daniel suspected when he remembered that Rashid was with Louis in the San Francisco bar they first met at in 1973. And that Rashid looked exactly the same now as then. This could only mean that Rashid was a vampire himself, and it turns out his real name is Armand. The vampire Armand has been a principal vampire character since the start. As to how he survived sunlight in Interview With the Vampire, Armand explains to Daniel in Interview With the Vampire that more ancient vampires can survive small amounts of solar exposure. Rice established this rule herself. Although in the novels, Armand is not considered old enough to be impervious to sunlight.

Who Is Armand in Interview With the Vampire?AMC Networks

So who is Interview With the Vampire‘s Armand? In the book, Louis and Claudia met Armand in 19th-century Paris, years after they escaped Lestat. He was 400 years old at that point and the master of a large coven of the undead. Armand’s coven posed as human actors only pretending to be vampires and performed for human audiences in the Theatre des Vampires. In the novel, Armand became a vampire in Renaissance Italy at age 17. Clearly, Armand was a full-grown adult upon his siring here. (This was like the film version too.) Armand fell for Louis and tried to lure him away from his obligations to his undead daughter Claudia. Essentially, so he could have him all to himself with no familial distractions.

When Armand realized that he could not cut the metaphorical umbilical cord, he secretly allowed his coven to execute Claudia, for the crime of trying to kill her maker Lestat. When Louis unleashed his revenge and slaughtered that coven, Armand allowed it to happen, seeing himself as free from the dead weight. He and Louis left Paris together as a couple, and it’s only decades later that Armand admitted to Louis that he allowed Claudia to die. It was only then that Louis left him behind. By the time Louis gave his interview in the book version of Interview With the Vampire, he and Armand had long since parted ways.

Armand, Reinvented for the Interview with the Vampire TV ShowAMC Networks

Clearly, much of this could not have happened in the TV series continuity. Armand and Louis are not only together in Interview With the Vampire, it seems they never parted. And the much older and more powerful Armand was subservient to Louis, despite that never being the case in the novels. In the books, the two maintain some affection for each other in the modern day but are not together in any real sense.

Armand’s Backstory (Partially) Revealed in Season 2AMC Networks

In season two’s second episode, we see Armand and Louis’ meeting in Paris went much as it did in the novels. Armand is highly intrigued and attracted to Louis, even though his coven is wary of this mysterious American outsider. In episode three of the second season, “No Pain,” we get flashbacks to Armand in the late 18th century, learning more about his past. During this era, he is a 300-year-old vampire who leads a coven called the Children of Satan. These vampires dress in dirty clothing and sleep in graves. They believe it is God’s will they serve Satan, and therefore, they must eternally suffer.

Because of these ancient rules, the coven thinks of Lestat as an outcast for living among humans. Armand kidnaps Lestat’s human companion, Nicolas, as a way to lure him to the cemetery Les Innocents, where Armand’s coven operates from. Once Lestat enters the coven’s lair, they realize the rules about haunting graveyards and running from crucifixes are merely folk stories, myths perpetuated by Armand as a means of control over his flock. Armand is enraged that Lestat with his brazen ways has destroyed a coven that lasted hundreds of years.

AMC Networks

Armand, now demoralized after his coven has seen through his lies, tries to seduce Lestat as his companion. He feels the young vampire owes him for destroying his coven. Although Lestat is equally intrigued by Armand as he is with him, he ultimately rejects him. Lestat leaves France, leaving the theater he owns to Armand and his coven. He instructs them to use it as their new lair. It was Lestat’s notion that the coven pose as human actors who pretend to be vampires. All of this is information about Armand’s past that was never revealed by Rice in the first novel. It’s all crucial backstory she first told in 1985’s The Vampire Lestat.

Armand Tells Louis About Marius, His Ancient Roman Vampire Maker

In episode four, Armand takes Louis to the Louvre in the dead of night. The elder vamp shows Louis an old painting, Palma Vecchio’s Adoration of the Shepherds With a Donor. While standing before the painting, he explains his origins to Louis, all taken from The Vampire Lestat, where Armand explained them to Lestat instead. Armand tells Louis he was born Arjun, and his parents sold him into slavery to a merchant ship captain in Delhi. The name “Arjun” is actually that of another, more ancient Indian vampire in Rice’s novels. In the books, Armand’s birth name was Andrei, something we learned in 1998’s The Vampire Armand. The series has switched his country of origin from Russia to India, thus the name change. Also, Armand was kidnapped in a raid, not sold by his parents in the novels.

AMC Networks

They sold Arjun to a brothel, until his vampiric master, Marius de Romanus, bought him. Marius renames him, Amadeo, meaning “one loved by God.” Armand heavily implies Marius pimped him out as a prostitute (Again, not something from the novels). Regardless, Armand speaks of Marius as though he loved him greatly. He posed for paintings for his master, and Marius only gave him the dark gift when he became very sick and was near death at age 27. In the novels, he was 17, and dying from a violent attack. Later, the Roman coven burned Marius alive for being a heretic, and took Amadeo and brainwashed him into their Satanic coven. Renamed again as Armand, they eventually sent him to run the Paris coven that Magnus, Lestat’s maker, had abandoned. In the novels, Magnus was never an official part of the Paris coven.

Armand Erased Memories of Louis and DanielAMC Networks

In episode five of season two, we get an extended flashback to Louis’ original 1973 interview in San Francisco. In the book, Louis was long split from Armand at that point. But we learn in the series, the two were very much together still at that point, and Armand intervenes as Louis is about to drain and kill the boy reporter, Daniel Molloy. He then saves Louis from suicide by sunlight, and erases Louis and later Daniel’s memories of the incident entirely. But not before holding Daniel hostage for days, essentially torturing him. It’s a scene that breaks book canon, but also illustrates how ruthless Armand can be to preserve what he feels he has. In this case, Louis’ companionship.

Although we are told Armand’s backstory, we don’t actually see it in flashbacks. Season two may yet show us some of Armand’s early days with Marius, his Roman vampire maker. Marius is a major character in The Vampire Lestat, and later, The Queen of the Damned. So, the producers of Interview with the Vampire may wait for season three to show us these parts of his history in a visual sense, until they’ve cast this major role. But we now know more about Armand in the universe of this series than ever before.

Originally published on November 28, 2022.

The post INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 2 Reveals Armand’s Backstory appeared first on Nerdist.