‘Interview With the Vampire’ at 30: Director Neil Jordan on the Tom Cruise Casting Controversy, Brad Pitt’s Misery and More

variety.com:

Interview With the Vampire” hit theaters in 1994, the film had been in development for almost 20 years, seemingly with an obstacle or controversy for almost every one of them.

Aided by producer David Geffen, only director Neil Jordan — riding high after the critical and commercial success of “The Crying Game” — was able to overcome those hurdles and deliver an adaptation of Anne Rice’s 1976 novel that merged the operatic scale of “Gone With the Wind” and theatrical bloodletting of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Although Rice originally balked at Tom Cruise playing the vampire Lestat, it didn’t hurt that the film starred one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, as well as Brad Pitt, himself on the precipice of superstardom, alongside Kirsten Dunst as their scene-stealing pre-teen companion.

Marking the film’s 30th anniversary, Jordan recently spoke with Variety about the many challenges he faced to get “Interview With the Vampire” made.

In addition to discussing its controversial casting choices — including one that happened because of the tragic death of River Phoenix — he reflected on the tone of his adaptation, the impact of that tone on star Brad Pitt, the sexual underpinnings of its story about same-sex companionship, and some of the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.