In movie!IWTV, Armand’s origins aren’t explicitly stated, just that he’s an Old World vampire. He could very well be Spanish, that’s Banderas’ actual ethnicity. So we don’t know. Just bc Louis and Claudia meet him in Paris doesn’t mean he’s French; he tells them he’s 400 yrs old, he’s probably lived elsewhere.
On my recent post about Antonio!Armand, @slow-read shared this opinion: “I would like to add that Antonio’s accent also gives one a sense of age, otherness and it sounds (or sounded) exotic to the audience? It was perfect for Armand-the-oldest-living-vampire-in-the-world. *-*” The
ppl behind movie!IWTV might have chosen Banderas and made the character this way rather than a more canon-compliant actor bc they wanted him to be more convincing as
Armand-the-oldest-living-vampire-in-the-world to audiences who had not read the books. Filmmakers then (and now) want a movie to appeal to wide audiences. I was a kid then, but it seems to me that fandom (and specifically, trying to please the fanbase as a primary objective) wasn’t as much of a consideration at that time.
In the books, Armand comes from a place called Kiev, which according to AR is in Russia and according to the google is in the Ukraine, but idk. Then he spent years in Italy which is where he got most of his mortal education, so he may have picked up some of that accent from his teachers and friends… and then he lived in Paris for many years so he might have consciously tried to pick up some of that accent in order to blend in.
Anyone is welcome to answer this with what you think Armand’s accent is like!
I reckon Armand didn’t spend long enough in Italy to pick up a lasting accent, it will have faded by now. It’s been such a long time since he lived in Eastern Europe that I’m not sure he would have that in his accent, either. Maybe he does have a trace of it left, since it was the first place he lived in. He spends so much time around Frenchmen to this day, I reckon he has a lot of French in his accent. Although let’s not forget he’s also spent a lot of time in America by now, too.
Hard to know, when we don’t have a real life model for someone who’s lived for so long in so many places! I’m gonna go with a cocktail, predominately French with a hint of Eastern Europe and American. The filmmakers with Banderas were probably like, “Eh, European is good enough, no one will know the difference as long as it’s foreign sounding.”
BTW, there are some gr9 reblogs/comments on that post about his accent, worth checking out. The general consensus seems to be that it depends upon what point in canon you’re at and accept, bc it changed over time (I’m going to reblog from smne on the chain after it has a little more time to get more responses).
I am super excited and cautiously optimistic and ambivalent and detached, in waves. BC we’ve waited a looooong time for a new adaptation, I’m not gonna stay set on “super excited” mode until we see news that it’s filmingPREMIERING!
That said… I did a big ideal cast post here*, and I stand by it, even now. Here’s just the de Lioncourts bc TVL is supposedly happening first and they’re major characters in it.
There are alot more options in the #VC casting tag, if you have some time to kill!
*And I know these ppl may not be available but they’re close to my headcanon, so picking someone like them would be gr9 as far as I’m concerned ;D
^Lestat de Lioncourt: Brett Scallions from Fuel, circa the 90′s.
^Gabrielle de Lioncourt: Grace Kelly, (gif is from The Swan, 1956)
^Marquis Valère de Lioncourt: Timothy Omundson, 2016. But now I’ve seen him in Galavant and he is so adorbz! I might like him too much.
I always got the assumption it was creative differences related to plot because of this:
“As many of you know, Universal Studios and Imagine Entertainment had
optioned the series to develop motion pictures from it, and though we
had the pleasure of working with many fine people in connection with
this plan, it did not work out. It is, more than ever, abundantly clear
that television is where the vampires belong.”
Also, in a comment about character backstories in the same post, she replied:
Nope! Not that I’ve been made aware of. AR didn’t give us a reason why Universal was no longer involved. She just announced to us 11/26/16 that she had the rights back [X] and was developing a VC TV series. So I would assume that Universal rights expired, and they didn’t choose to renew. AR might have raised the renewal cost, too.
I hope we do get the backstory on that someday, but my guess is we never will. Probably the same kind of development hell that happened w/ movie!IWTV from ‘94, the rights were jostled around for almost 20 yrs bc, from what I understand:
the material was/is very difficult to adapt with all the problematic and taboo stuff in it.*
the filmmakers wanted to please the VC fans, but they also wanted to make something that people who had not read the books would want to go see! That’s probably one of the reasons for Banderas!Armand, btw. I’m sure the filmmakers had to choose between satisfying the VC fans and reducing the taboo stuff enough to make it more palatable for non-VC fans (Louis, an adult vampire, being seduced by a teenage-looking vampire, might have been too much to ask for in 1994 it might still be too taboo now).
casting was tough,several first choice actors declined.
*@moral-cipher and I were talking about this, and the way ppl criticize canon, and that’s fine, I encourage it! But it is a very problematic series and just about every character is dysfunctional, every character has suffered or has caused suffering in others. The new motto for VC fandom might as well be:
~VC: If you’re looking for a perfect cinnamon roll, you’ve come to the wrong fandom.~
“TV makes it possible to roll it all out….no compromises”
But I can’t find anywhere she directly comments on her reasoning…
I wanna point out that AR is sort of a TV junkie and it really does make more sense to make it a series. Every time she brings it up lately she’s like ~GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION!!~ But you get so much more TIME, which really helps. I haven’t read/watch ASOUE but everyone seems to be enjoying that? I can say that having read A Song of Ice & Fire and watched Game of Thrones, that’s like UGH THAT IS WHAT WE NEED, like it’s so fleshed out with so much attention to detail, that is the way to go.
BUT ALSO don’t forget that VC isn’t linear, and I think that’s going to be a challenge for TV because it’s a little unusual, and it’s got to be able to appeal to more than like 300 LOSERS ON TUMBLR YOU KNOW???????? (jk i love you guys <3) There are networks out there that aren’t going to be afraid of the PROBLEMATIC STUFF, but still might have a hard time wanting to do a non-linear series, so it’s going to take a little smushing around and rearranging. WHICH CAN BE DONE! but I think it’s a big reason why there haven’t been more movies. To do these stories right it’s gonna take a huge budget and a lot of faith that the mainstream can enjoy it, and some of this stuff is just really like, unconventional and fucking whacky so I think we all have to be a little patient and understanding of that. 😀
//It’s been a while since I’ve drawn something. But this weekend I went to Paris. VIsiting Armand’s old domain and visiting the Louvre for at least six hours, I was immensely inspired to do this piece. Hope you guys like and share. ❤
Wow, bold of you to consider him as a favorite! I’m rarely asked about Magnus. If I might ask, why is he one of your faves? He is like the ultimate Your Fave is Problematic bc of the way he was first introduced in canon, forcing Lestat into vampirism and all that. Lestat pretty much forgives him at this point, having tried going back to mortality and been very unhappy with it, you could say Lestat finally got to make the choice he didn’t have originally well, *sigh* a whole essay could be written about Lestat and choosing to vampire.
Magnus tells his story in Prince Lestat! That he was a great Parisian alchemist. It’s glossed over fairly quickly, there could be more to Magnus. He was in Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, we’ll probably see more of him.
There was a Magnus RPer, gone inactive now, but you might find good stuff in their archive, might reach out to any active RPers you find there: @theycallmemagnus.
well, *sigh* a whole essay could be written about Lestat and choosing to vampire.
Fortunately, someone HAS in fact written those essays! @anton-mordrid wrote an excellent piece on the themes of consent in Lestat’s character arc from IWTV through TotBT
Taking Bodies: Themes of Consent in Lestat’s Development
Wow, bold of you to consider him as a favorite! I’m rarely asked about Magnus. If I might ask, why is he one of your faves? He is like the ultimate Your Fave is Problematic bc of the way he was first introduced in canon, forcing Lestat into vampirism and all that. Lestat pretty much forgives him at this point, having tried going back to mortality and been very unhappy with it, you could say Lestat finally got to make the choice he didn’t have originally well, *sigh* a whole essay could be written about Lestat and choosing to vampire.
Magnus tells his story in Prince Lestat! That he was a great Parisian alchemist. It’s glossed over fairly quickly, there could be more to Magnus. He was in Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, we’ll probably see more of him.
There was a Magnus RPer, gone inactive now, but you might find good stuff in their archive, might reach out to any active RPers you find there: @theycallmemagnus.
Well, anon, lemme just take a look in my coat here…
The museum podLestat pissily refers to Armand building for Louis in PL (while OBVIOUSLY not getting him, unlike Podstat, who bought Louis what he definitely loves: clothes) was a really last ditch effort, maybe just before going to America. It contains every piece of art Louis expressed even the vaguest interest in during their decades together, whether bought, bargained, or stolen (there are some very convincing fakes out there now)
Louis’ initial feelings for Armand were entirely real – Armand only mentally interfered when trying to keep Louis from doing something that could then be rationalized as “for his own good.” Even still, Louis has kept Armand locked out of his head since the day he learned how
When Armand realized he couldn’t rouse joy in Louis, he settled for pain, emotional and physical. The physical was technically consented to but Louis was so nigh-catatonic it didn’t count for much. Playing the Lestat card was partly because they came to a line even Armand didn’t consider himself monstrous enough to cross
They’ve never talked about Armand’s feelings for Lestat, nor Daniel’s feelings for Louis. They really, really should
Benji was the only reason Louis initially agreed to stay at Trinity Gate, seeing him as an opportunity to atone for his treatment of Claudia
Armand sees himself in Sybelle’s “madness” (read: she seems to be autistic and predominantly nonverbal, ANNE YOU’RE WRITING IN A WORLD THAT IN-UNIVERSE NOW HAS A MORE NUANCED UNDERSTANDING OF MENTAL ILLNESS NOW, COME ON) He’s never actually sought modern diagnoses for himself, and fuck knows her parents never did that for her, but like recognizes like
Louis’ never really forgiven Armand for what he did, and Armand doesn’t expect him to. Rather, the fondness just trumps the resentment after a full century
They fell into “parenting” very easily, and didn’t think about their feelings beyond their roles for the first few years
Louis actually made the first move. Armand was doing his best to give Louis space after all those years of doing the opposite. The French Library was Armand’s gift, so Louis would have a place to be alone, and he never goes there
Armand still feels very lost in the wake of everything (his attempted suicide and the revelation that the being who drove him to it was just an elaborate con), but buckles down talking about it because ROLES. ROLES ARE HOW YOU SURVIVE AND KEEP GOING. But…Louis actually asked about it
They repaint the ceilings in the mansion together every few months based on skies around the world
I-want-my-IWTV 