The curse of Lestat de Lioncourt

The rumor of Robert Downey, Jr’s involvement in the next trip into Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles finally reached me today. I was excited, worried, but mostly disturbed. There seems to be a curse that follows those who portray Lestat de Lioncourt on the big screen. It’s as if the pressure of portraying such an influential figure in paranormal fiction batters down on the actor’s psyche and makes them do crazy things. Case in point…

Tom Cruise. Innovator. Academy Award nominee. Nut job.

I still have much love for my childhood crush. Even though he confuses and worries me, I saw Valkyrie in the theatre and obsess over his earlier work. But something happened after Interview with the Vampire. Okay, not just “something”, a few of them. Like Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky, and the actions pictured above.

Not convinced? I offer up Exhibit B…

Stuart Townsend. Man candy. Lover of tall blonde women. Houdini.

Granted, Queen of the Damned and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were not Oscar worthy movies, nor were they produced very well, but they introduced me to this hunk of Irish man. His role in Trapped is what made me fall for him, however. It was dark and dangerous and I believed his role as a desperate father. Whatever happened to the man who took on Kevin Bacon and Courtney Love? I’ll tell you what…Lestat!

So you can see why I’m concerned for Robert Downey, Jr. He’s no longer Hollywood’s redheaded stepchild with a drug problem. His career has skyrocketed, including big budget movies like Tropic Thunder and inspirational movies like The Soloist. He’s reinvented himself. He’s grown up. He is Iron Man.