Tom Cruise is now popularly known as a bonafide action hero who pushes the boundaries of action filmmaking, unafraid to do his own stunts. The actor has surprised audiences with his commitment to death-defying feats throughout the years and is not stopping anytime soon.
Magnolia, A Few Good Men, Rain Man, and Interview With the Vampire are some of his finest films where fans saw Cruise’s dramatic side as an actor. He starred alongside Brad Pitt in the latter but he wasn’t the first choice for Lestat. Director Neil Jordan initially approached Daniel Day-Lewis for the role but rejected it as it would require him to do an unimaginable feat.
Daniel Day-Lewis’ Method Process Would Have Been Too Much For The Role of Lestat
Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst starred in Neil Jordan’s gothic horror film Interview With the Vampire. The film chronicles the life of vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac played by Pitt and his relationship with Lestat de Lioncourt played by Cruise. The pair’ dynamic begins to sour once a little girl played by Dunst comes into the picture.
Pitt had already signed on to play Louis before the casting for Lestat was done. Director Neil Jordan wanted Daniel Day-Lewis for the role. This intriguing choice was also loved by Anne Rice, the writer of the novel of the same name. In an op-ed on The Telegraph, Jordan revealed that when he approached Day-Lewis for the role of Lestat, he did not want to play the character.
The director reasoned the actor’s rejection of the role to his method prep in everything he does. Day-Lewis had spent the entire production of My Left Foot in a wheelchair (he played a character with cerebral palsy who could control only his left foot).
If he had committed for Lestat, who’s a vampire, the ‘method’ actor had to spiritually feel and live the life of a vampire. Day-Lewis would have to sleep in a coffin for the entirety of the production of Interview With the Vampire. That would have been a nightmare and thus, he and Jordan parted ways. Jordan said,
The problem was the casting of Lestat. Brad Pitt had agreed to play Louis and somehow assumed Daniel Day-Lewis would be playing Lestat, an assumption shared by Anne. I offered it to Daniel, who read it, and, as I expected, didn’t want to play the character. A few years before, he had confined himself to a wheelchair to play Christy Brown in ‘My Left Foot.’ He would have had to sleep in a coffin for the entirety of this production if he followed the same practice. So we moved on.
Day-Lewis is known for taking extreme measures to embody his character and playing a vampire would be something that the actor would go full-on method for. As Jordan describes, the prep that the actor would have done would be ridiculous. Cruise went on to play the role in the film.
Fans Did Not Like Tom Cruise’ Casting As Lestat In Interview With the Vampire
When Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat in Interview With the Vampire, fans heavily criticized the casting choice and believed that the actor was not the right one to portray the role. The film was an adaptation of Anne Rice’s book of the same name, and even she was against Cruise’s casting as Lestat (via Angelfire).
In an interview with The Guardian, the film’s director Neil Jordan reflected on how it must have been hard for Cruise to receive such severe outrage and criticism at the time. However, Cruise proved everyone wrong and earned audiences’ love and respect through his incredible performance. Jordan has huge respect for Cruise and calls him the last remaining film star. The director said,
It must have been very difficult for him. The entire world said, ‘You are miscast.’ He’s a great actor. If he says he can do something, he will do it in a way that people will be shocked by. Tom has become the last remaining film star.
The film was a hit at the box office grossing $223 million against a $60 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). Fans loved the dynamic between Cruise and Pitt and it’s the only film they worked together on.
Interview With the Vampire is available to stream on Paramount+.
