Today Facebook played “I know what you did last spring summer” and reminded me what I did on May 29th but 4 years ago. I am so grateful…
Ok and this is what I did. Honestly, I completely forgot about it. And yes, nothing has changed in this department…
BUT let’s make something clear…Tom Cruise was brilliant as Lestat. 😉
I reposted this status on my wall, because of course I got nostalgic and I am lestatized heavily. We had a lovely conversation with friends there.
It PAINS me that Rutger Hauer didn’t play Lestat back then. Just look at him, god damn. *thousand-yard stare*
^Agreed. VERY PAIN. Forever mourn that Rutger Hauer was too old when they were finally ready to make IWTV. The book came out in ‘76, and the movie languished in production hell until it finally started filming in ’93-’94 and like afg;huljl;!?kflifiimsfifghtl! *strangled anguish noises*
Travis Fimmel also has a lot of Lestatuesque potential in him… Even Stuart Townsend did the best he could with the trainwreck he was given (who do I blame his accent on? Probably the director). At least Townsend had the right build, I’ll give him that. It’s another tough thing to achieve; Lestat would have been athletically muscular from all the running and hunting in the Auvergne, and then the acrobatics in Paris. Not a bodybuilder level of muscular. Plus he was like 21, remember.
BUT! YES! let’s make something clear…Tom Cruise was brilliant as Lestat. 😉
However, Townsend’s fail is not all his fault. He was doing what the director told him to do, he was made up the way the director wanted, and he was working from a terrible script. Unfortunately it was a trainwreck of a movie.
IWTV had Anne Rice on the script, working closely with the director to keep her vision as close to the book as possible.
Also, Tom Cruise did his homework. He read IWTV, TVL, (and presumably QOTD and TOBT bc at one point he was trying to star in and get TOBT made). He’s been at this longer, he’s a more practiced actor, he just *got* Lestat better.
DESPITE all those ppl who still complain that he was too short, bc honestly, to judge an actor by his height, something entirely outside of his control (he did wear boots w/ some vertical assistance) is so narrow-minded and other related complaints so don’t even get me started.
I don’t know what the deal was with QOTD, but they clearly didn’t care for canon. That was the real source of its failure, not just it’s terrible Lestat.
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.
I-want-my-IWTV 