//ooc: Mun’s going to take this one bc I know there’s some debate about his name, and part of the confusion is bc

in movie!IWTV it is pronounced more like “Les-CAT” with a somewhat softened second T, and there’s canon that has him indicating that alternate, “less-DOT” wackiness. 

My headcanon is that he prefers the “Les-CAT” version, in especially domestic moments, Louis will call him “ ‘Stat,” which, incidentally, is also the abbreviation for a medical emergency, which they both find humorous.

I just cut a random set of three shots w/ different characters pronouncing his name; Claudia, Louis, and Armand: I even did subtitles theses are the lengths I go to for you!

IIRC, we don’t actually see Lestat say his own name in the movie, but he presumably told Louis and Claudia how he prefers it. 

Personally, I prefer the IWTV film adaptation version, it feels warmer to me than that harsh “DOT.” AR was involved with that adaptation so she could have made a point to have it pronounced however she wanted, and Neil Jordan had worked with her very closely, so I doubt he would have overrode her on that but it’s possible he decided it should be pronounced differently to how she preferred.

IIRC, the books don’t actually indicate the pronunciation until several books in, and many ppl do not consider these later books canon anyway, but here’s a quote re: his name’s pronunciation:

From Blackwood Farm (2002), when asked his name: “ ‘Lestat, Madam,’ he answered, pronouncing it “Les-dot,” with the accent on the second syllable.“

TBH I wouldn’t even consider a native French speaker a total authority on this since “Lestat” was an invented name which came from Anne’s husband’s name, Stan, with “Le” added to the front for “The,” and she has said that she intended for the name to be “Lestan” but made a typo and VOILA! we have “Lestat.” So it’s not a name that’s really based on Frenchness other than the “Le.”

ANYWAY here’s an older post with some more thoughts on his name… and one of our fandom’s native French speakers (who is also a language teacher!), @takemetocoffin-or-losemeforever, even made a video pronouncing Louis’s name (and Lestat’s!):

So it’s up to you how you want to pronounce it but I go with movie!IWTV.