At the time of his casting, Tom Cruise seemed like an odd choice to play Interview with the Vampire’s infamous Lestat. But what if Al Pacino had taken the role instead?
In 1993, concept design Miles Teves was working for Stan Winston Studio on the adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel. He explains that the filmmakers genuinely wanted to get an idea of how Pacino might have looked as Lestat:
For a short time, at the beginning of the production, Al Pacino was rumored to have wanted the role of LeStat [sic]. I provided this image to help the studio make a decision. His presence as an actor, though an unusual choice, might have infused the character with more gravitas. Few command the screen like the indomitable Pacino.
He certainly cuts a very different figure from Cruise, whose casting initially displeased Rice—although she was won over by his performance. Teves has a similar rendering of Cruise on his website, as well as a few other pieces of Interview with the Vampire concept art.
Pacino-Lestat [Miles Teves via Comic Book Movie]
