The Worst Lestat

A million years ago before vampires were teenaged virgins or southern slave owners, Anne Rice was the vampire authority. Her book, "Interview with the Vampire" and subsequent vampire books were hugely popular in the 1980s and 1990s. I was actually surprised to see that "Interview with the Vampire" was written in 1976 because it seemed much more contemporary when the film adaptation of the novel was eagerly anticipated in the early 1990s. There was much ado about the casting of the movie and Anne Rice initially publicly opposed the casting of Tom Cruise as the Vampire Lestat because she preferred Rutger Hauer in the role.

I don't know, I kind of buy Cruise as a member of a secret cult. 

I guess Rice isn't alone in connecting Hauer with vampire since he's played roles in quite a few vampire television shows and movies, as I just learned from his Wikipedia entry. Also, he's an AIDS activist and his grandson is a fashion model. Fascinating.

The controversy over Cruise's casting gave rise to a game that the K and some of his friends played in which they would ponder who would really make the worst Lestat. Sample conversation:

The K: Ernest Borgnine would make a terrible Lestat.
Friend: Yeah, he'd be bad. What about Joan Rivers? She would be a worse Lestat.
The K: She would be awful as Lestat, way worse than Tom Cruise. What about Alan Thicke?
Friend: The dad from "Growing Pains?" Horrible Lestat. What about Don Rickles?
The K: Don Rickles would be the worst Lestat.

So, you get the idea? The genius of this game is that it could be transferred to the casting of other high-profile parts. And not so high profile. Because when I saw the news that Joy Behar is leaving "The View" my immediate thought was not, "Hey, Megan McCain would be awesome on The View," like People Magazine did in its list of "10 People Who Should Co-Host The View." (Even though I do think Megan McCain would be fabulous on "The View" because she's kind of a hot mess and she and Elisabeth Hasselbeck would love/hate each other). My thought was, "Who would be the worst replacement co-host on 'The View'" because that's way funnier.