The Vampire Lestat Star Reveals the ‘Unusual’ Reaction They Receive From Fans Around the World

Sheila Atim and Sam Reid are electric together on screen in The Vampire Lestat, but it is not the first time the two actors have worked together.

Atim plays Akasha, the Queen of vampires, and the series shows when she and Lestat de Lioncourt (Reid) first meet. But Reid and Atim met back in 2017, when the two worked together on the Bob Dylan musical Girl From the North Country. Atim played Marianne Laine, the adopted daughter of Nick and Elizabeth Laine in Conor McPherson’s jukebox musical, while Reid played her brother, Gene Laine.

Atim warmly reminisced about the musical and how, no matter where she goes in the world, she finds people who love the show, which uses Dylan’s music to tell a 1934-set story in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota.

“I’m so excited about working with Sam again,” Atim said. “For me, Girl From the North Country was one of the most special shows ever. No matter where I go in the world, I’ll bump into someone who says they saw it, which is unusual for theater because, of course, it’s so situated in a specific place, and there’s a limited number of seats. It’s not like a film, where technically everyone in the world could watch it. So to know how special that project was for other people was really lovely, because it was really special for us at the time.”

Bob Dylan’s Unlikely Connection to The Vampire Lestat

Many actors get their start in theater, whether professionally or through the school plays that first gave them the acting bug. The stage is often part of an actor’s journey, and it is especially fitting for The Vampire Lestat, given how important the Théâtre des Vampires has been to Anne Rice’s world. Lestat himself is deeply theatrical and comes from a theater background, so having the actor playing him share that connection is a nice touch.

That theater vibe on the set of The Vampire Lestat seemingly brought Atim a lot of comfort and joy when filming.

“Sam and I were adopted siblings in the play. I loved Sam to pieces, and he’s in Australia, so I hadn’t seen him for ages. But when I knew he was doing this job, that’s part of the reason why I watched Season 1, just to see what he was up to. When I got this audition, I was really excited, and when I did the chemistry read with him, it was like, ‘This is the best chemistry read ever.’ When I was working with him, I was like, ‘This is amazing.’ And if we get to do Season 4, it’s just going to be more of that.

“It’s really exciting not just because I love Sam, but because you know you’re in safe hands. There’s a familiarity there. You also know the level of talent and craft that you’re dealing with. You’re working with someone who knows their stuff. They’ve got their chops, they’re disciplined, and they approach the work in a particular way. They’re not going to turn up on set and half-ass it. They’re going to give you everything, and that is evident before you even step on set. You just have to watch his work.

“It’s the same with everyone, like Jacob [Anderson], Delainey [Hayles], Assad [Zaman] and everyone. You can see that they know what they’re doing. Chris [Heyerdahl], who plays Marius, the writers — they’re people who love theater, and that love for storytelling is wonderful. I think theater is a place where it’s hard to be cynical because you have to throw yourself into the craft of it. It’s like a big playground. It’s really fun, and I’m really grateful.”

The Vampire Lestat airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC and streams on AMC+.