The sitting room setee – this would be the couch Claudia positioned the poisoned boys on
the piano in the back of the parlor – in the film it was angled differently with the windows to the back but in the same back corner of the parlor
Dinner setting in the kitchen adjacent to the courtyard
the duo desk in the parlor that Lestat threw himself upon following the poisoning
2nd floor desk/library – likely would have been Louis’ domain
the vanity table in Lestats room
Lestat’s bed – note the dramatic canopy
Louis’s bed – note how much simpler/no frills it is
Claudia’s bedroom (sorry for the angle, it was closed off for renovations). She had her own bed with a mini canopy, a sitting area with 2 chairs and a table, and 2 floor length windows to the balcony.
the desk in Louis’ room – it was next to a floor length window which opened up to the balcony that he shared with Claudia (they could open the window and walk out onto the balcony together)
A handful of my photos from The Gallier house AKA Rue Royale.
This is the French Quarter home that Anne Rice based Louis Lestat and Claudia’s home on, and I had chills walking through the entire building. Much love to @i-want-my-iwtv for making me aware of the location. It was fantastic to visit.
I have captioned each photo with where/how they played into the series, based on my interpretation, the floor plan, and where things were angled in the film. If you want to see anymore of the photos I took/the explanations behind them, send me a message and I will make you another set.
Little fun fact about the house – everything green you see here (including the front of the house/the balcony railings) was originally dyed/painted with a color called Paris Green, that was primarily made of arsenic. The homes often killed their occupants within 10 years of arsenic poisoning, but for a bunch of vampires, it was perfectly fine.
(You can see Louis’ bedroom chair and table through the door in this gif!)
Excellent report post, @stardustchild. Lovely pic set ❤
I’m sure you receive many, many emails of this kind, but I could not let my gratitude go unexpressed.
The short version of it is that I may not be here today were it not for you.
Now, the longer version of it is that in my 17th summer, my sister went to our town’s sparse public library and brought home a massive stack of paperback novels to get us through the long, hot, enui that can be the countryside days and nights. Interview with the Vampire was among the books, and I happened to grab it first. Honestly, I was more amused by the title than interested, so I decided to see if my predictions for “a little light horror fiction” might come true. Well…
I practically locked myself in my room for three days until I had read it, and then re-read certain passages three and four times over. I had found a new respect for the power of literature.
You see, this was a time when I was beginning to understand my homosexuality, and I had never encountered such rich and erotically charged writing with two male figures. But beyond that–and, more importantly–no work of fiction or fact had ever made me feel that its author had, somehow, reached a hand inside my mind, pulled out the most important philosophical questions that I could not yet put into words, and then laid out the answers in ways that made me hunger for more, and which made me want to live.
The true nature of that time is that I was terribly sad and suicidal because, in my very small and inhibited world, I was sure there were no other boys like me. No one to learn from, no one to take solace with, no one to confess all my fears and doubts to. At 17, as you are aware, I’m sure, the world is always about to end for things that people get through every day. For me it was no different, yet it was insanely compounded by the “gay thing” in the rural south. I won’t go further into that, I know you know what it means.
So, as I read, I saw myself so completely in the character of Louis–and I desperately wanted to be him, sad as he was–that I was able to forget my “family prison”, as I called it, and started thinking about how to really be who I was meant to be. I’ll tell you the part that got me weeping, and that I go back to often when I need to re-feel that old passion that first woke me up…
It’s the section of the book when Louis is in Paris with Armand, and they’re in Armand’s chambers discussing the nature of good and evil, and Louis asks him if they are the children of Satan. Growing up in the Baptist church, I had been taught that “my kind” were just that, and so this was one of my eternal questions brought to the printed page for discussion with a Master (I was shaking by this point!). And then came that beautiful answer–please forgive me if I murder the direct quote: “Exactly. And, consequently, if you believe that God made the world around you, then you must also believe that God made Satan, and that all of Satan’s power comes from God. There are no children of Satan, really.”
And that was it. That was the moment I realized I didn’t need to end my life because I was this aweful thing that didn’t belong in the natural world. I decided to embrace what I was, just as Lestat and Armand had been trying to teach that lesson to Louis, and I have never looked back, hard as the road has been at times.
Now, in my 40th summer, I am studying to be a therapist so I can help others overcome the same suffering I went through and overcame. This confession, though, is not the first time I have revealed to others what, or who, saved my life so long ago. In my efforts to fully connect with others who are struggling, I often tell them of the power of your story, and how it offered a perspective rarely encountered even in the best “self-help” books. Sometimes, a beautiful and tragic allegory can elicit the most catharsis. Lucky for all of us.
In closing, I’ll say again how fortunate I feel to have found you and Louis that summer. He is always with me on some level. I’m not really sure I have the exact words to express all the levels of gratitude I feel, but I hope this letter can convey even a 10th of it. You may absolutely feel free to share it with others, if you think it would be of benefit. I am forever grateful, and forever changed for the better, because of your incredible spirit and voice.
superhiki I’m so hyped about the new #vampirechronicles TV show- I’m throwing my full support behind @thomasjwf as Lestat- if there is any doubt in your heart here is some proof. 💟🦇💟
thomasjwf🤯💖 Oh wow that is so totally flattering. Thank you so much! Let’s hope I get the opportunity to give it a shot. 🤞🏻🎬🧛🏻♂️
superhiki @thomasjwf I hope so too! You’ve got a growing crowd of supporters. 💐💐
He looks like fanart??!! He has a lot of great pics on his IG, I’m trying to keep this post from getting out of control and only picking a few out, but ppl, go check him out. Physically I think he could work, just needs more canon-compliant styling, but this image below looks like it could be for the Rolling Stone article about his upcoming concert tour *u*
[^X] He’s not just open to playing Lestat, he’s throwing himself at the part, making professional looking cosplays, and his exuberance for it is so heartwarming and in character. I think he’s trying to get these hashtags trending: #castme #imyourlestat! (If he does, he might have to share them with other hopeful Lestats!)
splitclownsyndrome: All I see is Lestat. Such beauty. I hope you do go for the audition.and if you don’t make it, I’ll think of your face while I complete my first novel. 💕💕. Supporting you all the way, my friend
thomasjwf: @splitclownsyndrome thank you so much! More than my own desire and convictions motivating me to portray the role i’m really moved by the support and encouragement from fans of the VC universe. I know how close @annericeauthor is to her readers and receiving validation like this from them is lighting the best kind of fire under my butt. I only hope for the opportunity to prove what i can do above and beyond just posting pictures that convey the right essence. That said, I appreciate your words immensely and hope to have the opportunity to make you and everyone else who comes across my stuff on here proud! 🤞🏻🧛🏻♂️🌹
[X] Here’s a pic with him with blonde hair bc reasons.
The comments on some of his Lestat pics are really sweet and supportive, and that tells me that re: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” some of those beholders agree on him ❤
facebyjacques: Love the edit you did! So much fun collaborating with you, you are an incredible model! You were born to play Lestat!
eggsonrye: Perfect. He’s my favourite fictional character come to life, just how imagined
mandeemorningstar: @thomasjwf best of luck! They would be stupid not to pick you. You look exactly how I picture him when I read the books. Spot on!
sandrakay400: I would kill to see you on the silver screen as Lestat! !! Your perfect for it ! better than any of the other what’s-their-names?, lol
moonchild_sa: I’ll be honest, I have no idea how you found my account(my pictures), but I do see that you are a fellow Vampire Chronicles fan as myself, so that was fun and unexpected. You do make a great Lestat btw✌🏻💖
Here’s one more supportive comment:
[X posted Jan. 13, 2018] AR likes him! (transcribed from above):
You’re a striking young man; Thomas. When the time comes for casting, I’ll do my best to get real usable info as to here people should go to audition, and I will post it here and on the VC page. We are a year out from casting right now. Thanks for your pic and your comments. You have a marvelous face, marvelous expression, beautiful hair and facial structure, and eyes.
And in this post it looks like he’s a reader, too. This is his year in books, and from the looks of it, he’s read VC and other books that Lestat might have read and liked, too. More food for the character development 😉
Books: Dracula, of course. If you dig the epistolary format, I suggest you check The Historian. I am not the biggest fan of the “Stoker’s Dracula is Vlad III” theory/Florescu’s stuff, but the book is still beautiful and the characters are nice and good and very human. Then the “alternate international versions” of Dracula, like Powers of Darkness or Dracula in Istanbul. Let the right one in. This one feels sad, dark and oppressive. I really loved it. After 90 years. It’s a short novella, but you all should read it if you are into folkloric vampires over modern ones. Movies: Shadow of the Vampire, Byzantium… there’s also a load of good versions of Dracula to choose from. Then there’s Van Helsing, which is my guilty pleasure.
I-want-my-IWTV 