Interview With the Vampire Wants to Do the Anne Rice Jesus Stuff
Vulture
Last updated: May 26, 2026
The showrunner for "The Vampire Lestat f.k.a. Interview with the Vampire" is planning future seasons with increasingly bizarre and darker elements from Anne Rice's novels. Season 3 introduces Akasha, the Queen of the Damned, with a promise of her significant impact in potential future seasons.
- The upcoming third season of "The Vampire Lestat" will feature Sheila Atim as Akasha, the ancient Egyptian Queen of the Damned, who plays a role in Lestat's origin story. Showrunner Rolin Jones intends for Akasha to become a much more prominent character in a potential Season 4, describing her introduction as a "taste of a level of ferocity and intelligent rage" that will alter the show's landscape.
- Beyond Akasha, Jones aims to explore the more religiously themed later novels by Anne Rice, specifically the event where Lestat drinks the blood of Jesus Christ, as depicted in "Memnoch the Devil." This book details Lestat's journey through heaven and hell, where Jesus offers his blood. The text notes that in Rice's novels, mutual blood-drinking serves as a form of intimacy for vampires.
- Jones expressed admiration for Rice's "raw gold" and "thoughtful prose," suggesting her personal spiritual journey, including her return to Catholicism after a period of atheism, is evident in her writing. He champions incorporating the "psychotic, weird, wild things" from her books, which he believes are integral to her unique artistry.
