“It’s not a tunnel. It’s a canvas passage that was constructed to protect Lestat from photographers." 

—

New York Magazine, 1993

Facts extracted:

• AR wanted Jeremy Irons to play Lestat.
• There was a tunnel to get Tom!Lestat to and from set. I had heard that before, but not that it was HIS idea. That they just wanted to keep control of spoilers.
• The pic with this article looks like a shot someone took of him on set. Not an official production still, a paparazzi shot. So they did catch him outside the Tunnel of Secrecy?!
• Lestat has always loved being photographed but probably not when he’s all swampy, so that was just Tom being IC ;]