{{Infobox character | color = #DEDEE2 | name = Lestat de Lioncourt | series = The Vampire Chronicles | image = File:Tom Cruise as Lestat.jpg | caption = Tom Cruise as Lestat (1994) | first = Interview with the Vampire (1976) | last = Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018) | creator = Anne Rice | portrayer = Tom Cruise (1994 film) Stuart Townsend (2002 film) Hugh Panaro (2006 musical) Sam Reid (2022 TV series) | nickname = The Brat Prince Wolfkiller The Damndest Creature The Rule-breaker | alias = The Vampire Lestat | species = Vampire | occupation = Hunter Theater actor Rock star Author | gender = Male | title = Prince | family = Gabrielle de Lioncourt (mother/fledgling) The Marquis (father) Augustin (eldest brother) Five unnamed elder siblings Unnamed sisters-in-law Several nieces and nephews | spouse = Louis de Pointe du Lac | children = Claudia (fledgling/adoptive daughter) Viktor (biological son) Rose (adoptive daughter) | religion = Catholic (as a human, by family duty) | nationality = FrenchAmerican (naturalized) }} Lestat de Lioncourt () is a fictional character appearing in several novels by Anne Rice, including The Vampire Lestat (1985). He is a vampire and an antihero in the majority of The Vampire Chronicles. Publication history Lestat is introduced in Rice's 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire, the first book of what would become The Vampire Chronicles. His full backstory is explored in The Vampire Lestat (1985), which follows Lestat's exploits from his youth in the Auvergne region of France to his early years as a vampire fledgling. Lestat is the lead character in most novels in the main series, including The Queen of the Damned (1988), The Tale of the Body Thief (1992), Memnoch the Devil (1995), and Blood Canticle (2003). Rice later revisited the Lestat-centric series, starting with Prince Lestat (2014), followed by Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016) and Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (2018). Character development According to Rice, Lestat was largely inspired by her husband, the poet and artist Stan Rice; both have blond hair and they share November 7 as a birth date. In a 2003 interview, Rice noted that the character had also taken on some of her own attributes, stating, "Stan was Lestat; he was the inspiration. Perhaps it is best to say Lestat was Stan and me. He was Stan and what