Saw @thedistortionshallways whipping up a scrumptious IWTV (AMC version) x TMA crossover and thought I’d propose an alternate casting of the regency harem.
Dr. Jonathan Fanshawe as Louis DPDL
You should have guessed this take from #1 Repressed Jfan/Magshawe truther. Nobody matches the level of vitriol towards his ex (Jonah) like this guy. His name would be un-uttered in their home for 23 years until it was pounding in their heads like a jackhammer. “Considering this the severing of our acquaintance” (MAG 127) has the exact same energy as Louis kissing Armand in front of Lestat. His repressed Georgian ass laid down with the Devil and he’s now having a moment. Also, being a little unethical as a surgeon would be a great Louis’s guilt stand-in. As a treat.
Jonah Magnus as Lestat de Lioncourt
While canon Jonah isn’t as flamboyant or volatile as Lestat is….it really comes down to everything always circles back to him. I thought about casting Jonah as Armand because of his tendency to grand-master plan, and allegedly being “forced into this position by his fear of death,” but ultimately from a narrative standpoint he’s in Lestat’s role. He’s the one who puts everything into motion. Jonah has also already had a “You are a killer Louis” dynamic with another Jonathan so…why not the original one too?
Barnabas Bennett as Armand
HEAR ME OUT OKAY? Think about it. When it comes to the Louis/Armand relationship, the crux is Lestat: he’s both their ex and it’s obvious this was a rebound for Louis. Barnabas/Jfan are both connected to Jonah, and both have reason to hate him— Jonah left Barnabas to be alone as Lestat left Armand.
Barnabas is also very much “I’m just a little guy”/not really, in the way he started to just straight up beef with Mordechai Lukas. “After all, what judge would find in his favour over mine?” (MAG 92) is insane. Like Armand, Barnabas also has the problem of never being the first choice from the sheer lonely nature of his statement— “I have no-one whose absence truly pains me.” (MAG 92)
Albrecht von Closen as Daniel Molloy
So my friend has a headcanon of Albrecht being a failed Archivist (hence the books killing him with putting eyes inside him), but what if he survived that? What if he survived his encounter with the supernatural and continued to curate/collect knowledge? Do you see where I’m going.
Mordechai Lukas as Santiago
See: previous mention of the Barnabas/Mordechai beef. Also a Lukas on stage would be funny.
Bonus: Robert Smirke as The Vampire Sam
(“Is that the actual real life playwright Samuel Beckett?”/“Is that the actual real life architect Robert Smirke?”)