‘Interview With the Vampire’ Filmed Louis and Lestat’s Big Fight From Claudia’s POV to Reveal ‘Domestic Abuse’

Interview with the Vampire Episode 5 ends with a heartbreaking fight between Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid) that transcends the typical vampire battle. When an older and wiser Claudia (Bailey Bass) – but still trapped in the body of a preteen – returns home after years alone, she begs Louis to accompany her to Europe. When an angry Lestat lunges at Claudia, Louis steps in. The two lovers destroy their home in a gruesome fight that we first see through Claudia’s perspective. This is domestic violence on a terrible and magical scale.

“I mean, it’s a family dynamic. There is a very abusive person within him that separates this family, ” Interview with the Vampire star Sam Reid recently said of the scene.

The first five episodes of Interview with the Vampire imagine that a modern version of Louis de Ponte du Lac enlists Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosia), the now much older version of the journalist he spoke to in Anne Rice’s novel, to give the man the real story. Louis’ new origin story is as the owner of a New Orleans brothel in 1910 and Claudia is up to 14 years old. At one point, rebellious Claudia runs away from her stuffed home to explore what else is there. The separation is hellish for Louis. So when Claudia returns, he’s over the moon. Lestat, on the other hand, is jealous.

Claudia wants Louis to join her in Europe, a place Lestat refuses to return to. This sparks a vicious verbal argument between Lestat and Claudia, with Claudia communicating with Louis telepathically. Claudia points out Lestat’s patterns of emotional abuse, culminating in her pleading of Louis, « Please come with me! » Let’s be vampires worthy of your love! » Lestat chokes Claudia and Louis leaps to the girl’s defense.

« I liked it. Honestly, I did it » Interview with the Vampire said star Bailey Bass. « When you watch the scene, that’s all I read, but on screen. »

Bass may have loved the two and a half days of filming the sequence, but she admits that for Claudia it was much more difficult.

“From Claudia’s point of view, it’s domestic violence. And I know Jacob and Sam really understood that too and we were talking about it because it’s really heartbreaking. She, you know, is going back to being a little kid. Like, ‘I just want my dad. I just want my brother. I just want the person I love the most in this whole world to be safe and I want her to come with me because I really care about her and she sees how that mean person (Lestat) treaty.

Reid said, « I think it’s very heartbreaking to see it from Claudia’s perspective and it’s important that you see it from Claudia’s perspective because the vampiric bond between Louis and Lestat is very, very powerful, it is very difficult for them to break up.

« For the story to move forward, Louis needs someone to see outside of this relationship and see, you know, maybe it’s not healthy. »

Lestat and Louis run through the house, wreaking havoc, before soaring high into the sky for a bitter final argument that ends with Lestat dropping Louis to the ground.

« She thinks [Louis is] am going to die. Like she thinks she’s gonna lose him, bit by bit,” Bass said. « And I think it was really important and really beautiful that it was done from his perspective because it shows how complicated this relationship really is. »

Louis obviously does not die. He is an immortal vampire, after all. But her love for Lestat seems dead. Where is it?