Editor’s note: The below contains major spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.
AMC’s adaptation ofAnne Rice’sInterview with the Vampirehas rightfully been lauded since its debut this past month. The TV series by creatorRolin Jonesfeatures the relationship between two vampires Louis (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat (Sam Reid) in New Orleans. There’s muchthat’s been saidabout the show already; however, the final episode of Season 1 adds an interesting new wrinkle to this adaptation by revealing the true identity of Rashid (Assad Zaman).
The 2022 series isn’t a simple straightforward adaptation of the first novel, with significant changes made to Louis and Claudia’s race as well as Louis’ origins. In the novel, Louis is the son of a plantation owner in the 18th century but in the series, he was born in the 20th century and is a Black man running a brothel, something he thinks is the only way he can earn a living in that time and maintain some semblance of power. This puts him in the crosshairs of the vampire Lestat, who is fascinated by Louis’ nature and standing in society. The series also made the interesting decision to shift the modern-day timeline from 1990s New Orleans to Dubai in the present time. But the biggest change is clearly made to who Rashid really is.
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What Is Rashid’s Real Identity?
Throughout the first season, we see Rashid dutifully tending to Louis in his Dubai penthouse. Their relationship seems odd and unlike any established in the past episodes of the show. The power dynamic between Louis and Rashid also seems very off-kilter, with Rashid almost having some kind of worshipful admiration for Louis. Fans began to think of Rashid as Louis’ companion — or his “familiar,” even, in the same way that shows likeWhat We Do In The Shadowshave established. As the final episode of the freshman season reveals, though, Rashid is actually the vampire Armand, a popular established character inThe Vampire Chroniclesseries.
In the books, Armand resembles a young adolescent boy, described as 5’6" and pale with curly auburn hair. He is also the first elder vampire the novels introduce, having been bitten sometime in the 1400s. As a result, he is also far more powerful than Louis, Lestat, and Claudia (Bailey Bass). Later, he joins the Theatres des Vampires and rises to prominence as the vampire coven’s leader in Paris. When Louis and Claudia stumble upon the theater, he runs into Louis, and ultimately plays a role in Claudia’s death. Louis ultimately decides to leave with Armand, and the two stay friends for a number of decades before parting ways when it becomes apparent that Louis hasn’t moved on from the death of Claudia. It’s also important to note that in the book, following the events involving Louis, Daniel (Eric Bogosian) makes an effort to track down Lestat on his own but is instead discovered by Armand, who finally turns Daniel into a vampire in the third book of Rice’s series,Queen of the Damned.
Obviously, Daniel isn’t a vampire in this version of the series and Armand is also racebent, so we don’t know how the series will tinker with his origins and relationships with the trio. Armand can already go out in the sun and is able to allow Louis to feed off of him for sustenance, so there’s plenty that needs to be explained about his existence in this version of the show. In the meantime, this reveal certainly casts the entirety of Season 1, as well as the degree of Armand’s potential control over Louis, in a wholly new light.
Whatever we learn next about Armand will come courtesy of Season 2 ofAnne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, which has not yet announced a premiere date on AMC.
