understood the tale of suffering he has related, and attacks Molloy to scare him into abandoning the idea. Molloy runs to his car and takes off, while playing the cassette tapes of Louis' interview in his car. On the Golden Gate Bridge, Lestat appears and attacks Molloy, taking control of the car. Revived by Molloy's blood, Lestat offers Molloy the choice that he "never had"—whether or not to become a vampire—and, laughing, continues driving. Cast Tom Cruise as Lestat de Lioncourt Brad Pitt as Louis de Pointe du Lac Stephen Rea as Santiago Antonio Banderas as Armand Christian Slater as Daniel Molloy Kirsten Dunst as Claudia Domiziana Giordano as Madeleine Thandiwe Newton (credited as Thandie Newton) as Yvette Indra Ové as New Orleans Whore Laure Marsac as Mortal Woman on Stage George Kelly as Dollmaker Marcel Iureş as Paris Vampire Sara Stockbridge as Estelle Production Development The rights to Rice's novel were initially purchased by Paramount Pictures in April 1976, shortly before the book was published. However, the script lingered in development hell for years, with the rights being sold to Lorimar before finally ending up with Warner Bros. Director Neil Jordan was approached by Warner Bros. to direct after the huge success of his movie The Crying Game (1992). Jordan was intrigued by the script, calling it "really interesting and slightly theatrical", but was especially interested after reading Rice's novel. He agreed to direct on the condition that he be allowed to write his own script, though he did not gain a writing credit. The themes of Catholic guilt which pervade the novel attracted Jordan, who called the story "the most wonderful parable about wallowing in guilt that I'd ever come across. But these things are unconscious, I don't have an agenda." With David Geffen producing, the movie was given a $70 million budget, unprecedented for a film in the vampire genre. Jordan stated that: Casting Author Anne Rice adapted her 1976 novel Interview with the Vampire into a screenplay with French actor Alain Delon in mind for the role of Louis. Later on, when Interview entered the casting stage, British actor Julian Sands was championed by Anne Rice and fans of the novel to play Lestat, but because Sands was not a well-known name at the time (being only famed for his performance in A Room with a View), he was rejected and the role was given to