[To Claudia at dinner party] So this couple, the Perriers, they got this salon thing they call R-26. Artist types, some showing work, some just there to be there. Painters, poets...
Yeah, me, okay, I showed a little work, got some love back.
I don't know what he sees in him. He's not that attractive. ]
W1Woman 1
And a waterfall of pretension bursting forth from his mouthal cavity. Read my mind, grab my nethers. Already doing it.
M1Man 1
Sam was late with the bed bellows. Head's in a hat. Working on a new play. It won't happen again, Maitre.
M2Man 2
It happened four times!
M1Man 1
It won't happen again, Maitre. Eglee?
AArmand
Catatonic since Santiago has taken up with Celeste again.
M2Man 2
And Gustave? Les Toilettes? Back at the lair, hung over from last night, when he split from the pack and over-served himself in the Latin Quarter.
W2Woman 2
Ran down the street screaming, "I am a vampire! I am a vampire!"
M2Man 2
Wheels are coming off this week, Maitre. It's not just Paris giving birth to more genius.
[To Claudia] Yes! Sculptors and authors, and photographers and saxophone players. Intermingling, innovating.
LSLouis & Santiago
[In unison] Collapsing two art forms into one. Coming up with new ones. Meanwhile, everyone's fawning over Picasso, but out there on the Left Bank in shabby hotel rooms and cold water walk-ups, a new generation's ripping apart the old modes. Bursting into new ones.
Suppose I can come off haughty.
LSLouis & Santiago
[In unison] Everyone's fawning over Picasso, but not me, not Louis du Lac. I'm out in the streets on the barricades with the avant-garde.
See, now that I've wriggled inside your voice, pulled it on like a costume, you don't sound all that Chicago to me.
Outside Chicago. We roamed all around.
It's that emphasis on the second syllable, borrowed from the French.
So it's mimicry that you're good at. Like a parrot?
Like a gent with upright downstairs.
Cajun drawl. I want to test a theory. Say New Orleans!
Or a buffoon! [Santiago hisses with Louis then leaping from seat, popping up besides Santiago pulling his tongue] Anything else you want to say, buffoon?! I couldn't hear you from the other side of the table! But you got my attention now!
AArmand
Enough! [All guests heads slam on table and whole restaurant goes still]
Take your time. Come on! What?! Spit it out! A-huh.
AArmand
If you two want to act like fledglings do it in darkness! [Telepathically] Louis, come back!
Yeah, early work. I can't read anything I wrote before Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire. But some of these aren't so bad, Louis.
They document, nothing more.
I mean, this one with the fountain and the couple, and the water's glowing. I think I've seen it somewhere, like in a book or something. Right?
There's a good reason you picked that one, Daniel. It's not mine. That's Fred Stein. Elsa Triolet. Model, mid-30s I'm still in New Orleans. What is this?
AArmand
Dear, this is a Stein.
I know. Why is it in there? Why are all these in there?
AArmand
Don't ask me. We've been staring at those...
AArmand
Probably, Rashid confused them.
FRFlashback Rashid
In high school, you told a girl you'd only do her if she had a paper bag over her head. She agreed and you did...
This is embarrassing. I don't want you thinking I was trying to pass them off as mine.
I was an adequate photographer. An amateur. [Shuts briefcase] I want our readers to know that.
[In apartment with photos strung up] Only been at it a few years.
Can only take 'em at night when I can't control the light I'm getting. I'm supposed to stand by a street lamp and wait for the world to pass under it? I'm a vampire!
You're a vampire, a hunter!
I'm out there prowling for the moment. Do you know how many great shots I've taken only to find that the light was insufficient when I put it in the bath?
A whole goddamn lot! [Hands Lestat a photo who immediately starts eating it] Look at this. And this fսcking Gordon Parks fella he put in front of me? Guy spends three or four days with folks before he even picks up a camera. Friends with 'em and shit. I can't do that. I'll end up eating 'em!
[Starts perusing photos on a table] Like this gentleman. And this one. [Picks up photo] Oh, and her.
[Clips up a photo] Tell me one thing wrong about this photo.
[Walks up] Well, for one thing, I'm not in it.
Mmm? Your lens is not entirely clean. And you see here in the corner? And on this night you only had eight frames of film on you. A haunting set of clouds moved in minutes after your last shot. If it lacks singularity, there is nothing wrong per se with the frame but... perhaps, going forward, when the moon is your favored source of light... a little patience? If it lacks singularity, there is nothing wrong per se with the frame but... perhaps, going forward, when the moon is your favored source of light... a little patience?
AArmand
[From below in streets] What light through yonder window breaks? It is there, no? Northwest and Louis is...
AArmand
...the sun? Barely Balthasar. The moon? [Louis goes out onto balcony] I was wondering if you wanted to take one of our walks!
RRomaine
[Telepathically while dressing up Claudia] Sorry to disturb you, Maitre.
What is it, Romaine? I look good. I look French.
RRomaine
No, it's not right at the front because your chest...
RRomaine
Yes, you don't have more than you did two years ago. Same shape, same height. The war. Shriveled some people, stunted others. Claudia, you have eyes like my windows. Been through some shit like anybody else. Mom died. Dad ran off. Aunt didn't want me. A fire. Adopted. One of them was bad trouble. Ran away. One dark thing after another. Maybe I seek it out. Maybe I chase after it. Why? I don't know. But it's something to think about. Because even in between the dark things... there's something broken in me. A collision in me, like I wanna go bang. Well, go bang. Go flag it out or go cold. I mean, that's fine, then you'll be fine again. And then bang. And then okay, and then bang, and... You just get used to it, like weather.
[Noticing blood trickling down Romaine's leg and begins to protrude fangs] You got blood on your, uh...
RRomaine
Ah, I bled through. Ah, don't move too much, the pins, huh? [Gets up and walks away] I am leaving a trail. I am Gretel!
AArmand
[Peers through shop window] Claudia! [Dragging Claudia by arm up alley steps] The show is a hit! The show is our cover!
Tell me again what it is.
AArmand
We all humble ourselves!
Tell me again how Sam licks the stage clean after every show, and I'll tell you a job I'd rather do.
AArmand
You're the only one with a child's physique.
Audiences don't give a shit. Tuan could play the part. They just wanna watch the bouncing ball. Fifteen minutes a night to pretend. It's a degrading 15 minutes. I'd like to walk off stage in the middle but I don't. I'd like to pounce on the audience members, but I don't.
AArmand
[Walking down marketplace corridor] You left the sacrifice on the green room floor. We honor the blood when we dispose of it.
You dispose it so you won't get caught. C'mon, now. I missed a chore and made a friend. And before you tell me to make friends with the coven, I can't.
AArmand
Because they've turned inward too long ago and you know it!
Which is why you run to Louis!
AArmand
[Grabs Claudia by neck and slams her against pillar] I've let you whine and have your say. Most in my position would treat you no better than you treated your maker. Let us agree, going forward, you will do more than the bare minimum, on and off stage. And the friend you made, you will not see again. Yes? There's rot on the green room floor. See to it. [Claudia walks away violatedly and Armand realizes Santiago is behind pillar and grabs him slamming him against pillar] Too old to play Hamlet, too young to play Polonius. Know your role, thesp', or join your maker in oblivion. [Lets go of Santiago who slumps down and walks away]
Does Malik know he's lunch?
Malik knows if he makes it on foot to Jumeirah Mosque by evening, he'll be paid enough crypto to, well, most anything he wants.
Has anyone ever cashed in?
...
AArmand
[Smiles while wearing Malik's sunglasses] Entertaining. (Malik) made it all the way to the Burj Khalifa.
AArmand
Are you thinking of coming back to Paris? Trash piles and men who smell like cheese? Non, merci. No. We're going to wander.
AArmand
Mm-hm. [Louis chuckles]
Wander? This one? She of the straight line to the next X on the map?
AArmand
This is the X, Louis. Alright. Okay, well... to finding the X.
MMadeliene
Santé! Santé! How do you like my coffin? I wake up at night and the Phams aren't trading insults, Estelle isn't smearing makeup all over herself or humming off-key. [Claudia sings off-key] No one is forcing me to listen to their gossips or solve their petty crises. It's bliss.
Still, we didn't make it easy for you. I'm sorry for that. You alright there? I cannot read your mind. The architects of our, uh... I made you, that's just the way it is. Yes, but I feel you, Louis. I feel you too, Madeleine. I told Claudia I can feel you love her... and we should see him once more. I'm glad you did. I'm glad we did this. I can feel you too. Through him. Yes, he loves you. Okay. Okay, well, let's get the hell out of my soul! He gets enough affection. I don't need his head getting too big to get out the door. Taking a stretch. Order me another, love. There he goes. Mm-hm, there he goes! Will he get through the door with that big head? [Madeleine laughs] Why don't you want him to know how much you love him?
That's a little personal. He knows.
He knows. They gave him a choice. He chose.
[Hosting cabaret performance] Ladies and gentlemen! Madames et messieurs! Offal and offalesses! And all those who flourish outside the divide, welcome. For 150 years, we here at the Theatre Des Vampires have shown you "you". [Audience laughs] Your obscene predilections, your savage desires. But today, we're shunting human affairs aside. So if you want to kill your lover or fսck your mother, it'll have to wait. [Audience laughs] Because today... we're turning our lurid spotlight on ourselves! I stand before you in broad daylight at this first ever matinee at the Theatre Des Vampires to perform for your salacious gratification...
...us! Are you ready, you filthy animals?
AAudience
[Shouts] Yes! Yes? [Audience cheers and applauds]
Yes? [Audience cheers] The jury may be seated!
AArmand
I can only imagine your anger...
Stop! Turn around. Walk in the opposite direction until you're halfway around the world. Once there, find a radioactive storage facility and, as is your way, asshole your way inside and see if the workers will give you a couple of spent fuel rods to suck on. Do that for however long it takes until your eyes begin to cave in and your dick falls off. After that, lose my number. After that, fuck off!
Interview with the Vampire · 220 quotes
