Interview With The Vampire, 1994

 

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Director: Neil Jordan

Other Actors: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt

Antonio admits to being a big fan of Anne Rice and she certainly does not hide her admiration (infatuation?) for him. According to Rice, "Antonio Banderas is one of the most beautiful men in the world, obviously, one of the sexiest which is by no means insignificant to anyone who loves Tintoretto, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Michaelangelo, or Veronese. And also Antonio happens to be a very fine, fine actor -- something perhaps we've never known in America -- the 'Latin Lover,' the terrifying gunslinger, a comedian, a hunk, a vampiric seducer with MAJOR TALENT. His American career, as far as I'm concerned, is barely begun."

Antonio describes his character: "He is the oldest vampire active, he knows the answers to the questions of Louis (Pitt) about the immortals. With black eyes and very long jet-black hair his face is that of an angel. His manners are elegant, soothing and hypnotic. He is an actor and he renders bloody rituals and executions in scenes, appearing at the same time both innocent and cruel, simple and complex."

Director Neil Jordan wanted to emphasize the powerfully primitive, primal aspect of being a vampire, so he dressed Antonio in red velvet and a long-haired wig. "I felt at that point the story needed Antonio's thunderous sexual presence. He can make theatricality work in a movie -- which a lot of actors can't. Because people so often get stuck on his looks, it's easy to forget that he's an immensely gifted actor."

Interview With The Vampire stars Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. But, Antonio easily steals the show as the sensuous, malevolent Armand, the oldest living vampire in the world. This opinion comes from L.A. Weekly: "If Banderas was American he would have interpreted Lestat, but, of course, if he was American he wouldn't really be Banderas, and this serves in order to reflect the limitation of our best material. Cruise and Pitt are run-of-the-mill steaks; Banderas, he's prime cut."

The New York Daily New's Jami Bernard ended her review by offering Antonio her own neck to bite.

Newsweek said: "Pitt's at his best in the present-day scenes. Cruise works hard to affect a haughty, supercilious manner, and he's not bad, but you sense both these men are struggling to find a style any number of classically trained actors could pull off in their sleep." And, of course, the one classically trained actor of the three -- Antonio Banderas -- did just that.

Related Information

The three lead actors formed a close friendship on the set and, in their spare time, went car racing.

As a youngster Antonio loved to tell stories and he had tremendous narrative style. His preference was for horror stories. As an adult Antonio described Interview With The Vampire to longtime friend Antonio Meliveo in such a way that Meliveo said: "And now I don't need to go see it, because his explanation was more than enough."

Interview With The Vampire earned Antonio the second stalker of his career. A man fixated with him as Armand harassed the actor for months and followed him to more than one American city. Once again, Antonio did not report the stalker to the police.

Antonio was the inspiration for Azriel, the genie-ghost-angel hero of Anne Rice's 1996 novel, The Servant of the Bones. In the summer of 1996 Rice toured North America and appeared on many television talk shows -- and raved about Antonio.
Rosie O'Donnell: Is this book, which I adored, going to be made into a movie?
Anne Rice: Oh, I don't know. It's the only book I've ever written which wasn't sold by pub time. Which is great -- it's open and it's free. And, you know, the hero in it -- Azriel, my wonderful ghost -- is completely inspired by and based upon Antonio Banderas. So, I get to send it to Madrid two days ago -- Antonio, this is for you. You know. Of course, I'm the author, I have no power, but it's a lot of fun to have the book wide open.
Rosie: Did you like him in Interview With The Vampire?
Anne: I loved him in Interview With The Vampire but I loved him more in Philadelphia and House Of The Spirits and more in the other movies where we saw his soft curly hair and that great tenderness come out of him and everything. The guy is fabulous. And he's not only a great actor and a Latin lover. I mean he's one of the most beautiful men in the world. And so this character, Azriel, this wonderful Babylonian ghost whom I love, is really inspired by and dedicated to Antonio.