The short answer is that I think the majority of the VC fandom preferred Cruise ;D
Compare:
A) Cruise was Lestat. Even in this production still he was Lestat.
B) Townsend going for like bratty!Lestat:
(by textsfromthevampire ^This meme actually works in reference to Lestat and Stuart Townsend AS Lestat.)
The long answer is:
I didn’t hate Townsend. I don’t like to throw hate on actors for their acting (except James Franco, lol). I’d say ST did the best he could with what he was given. His failure as Lestat was a group effort (makeup, costume, script writer, dialogue coach, director, editor, sfx, etc. all had a hand in what we got on the screen) much as Cruise’s success was a group effort (wherein all those things previously mentioned came together so perfectly).
The actor is one part of the machine in creating that character. The failure or success of the character can ultimately be placed on the director since s/he’s the one who coordinates and makes all the aesthetic choices for the entire film.
Agreed. I think that with a decent script and a different approach, we might never have had the kind of group recoil from Townsend that we did. The thing about that movie is that there’s times when the aesthetics and atmosphere were really right (I still weep over Maharet’s house, or the deleted scenes’ original version of the intro), but more times when it bowed to the obvious attempt to make a commercial boy/girl/ancient vampire queen love triangle movie for a generation of teens who liked Aaliyah and/or Korn, which apparently was the only idea they could be arsed executing/move quickly enough on when they finally realised the rights were going to run out and needed exploiting.
Jesus christ. It’s been TWELVE YEARS and, despite the mild affection I’ve weirdly developed for the movie (apparently just because it’s been around for so long, and mocked for so long, like an ugly family heirloom), apparently I still find it hard to talk about it without ranting. 😛
I can’t believe you’ve seen the deleted scenes, ffs! Impressive commitment there. It IS an ugle family heirloom. Like the butchering they did to the Lestat musical when it came to NY. Apparently it was a shell of the successful production they had going in San Francisco; much of the best was cut out as, I believe, it was deemed “too gay” for NY…
Agreed on all points that I can agree to, considering that I haven’t been able to sit through the whole movie. From what I’ve seen, it’s enough torment.
Korn was the band of choice then, as far as “Not safe for public consumption, it’s pure corruption of the innocents!” music at the time, along with Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and Tool… definitely some others I’m neglecting, but maybe the producers went with Korn bc it was the only band willing to write songs for a movie in that way. NIN certainly had only dabbled in soundtracks at that time, as I recall, and they generally never play those songs (e.g. “the Perfect Drug”) live, for some reason. Maybe it’s a rights issue.
ANYWAY. I do think Townsend had a chance, and he did the best with what he was given.
I-want-my-IWTV 