It's an interesting choice to cast Jacob Anderson, a Black actor, for Interview With the Vampire's Louis role

The Mary Sue

"Casting Anderson is an interesting choice for many reasons—not only because Louis will now be Black/biracial, but because of how it connects the character’s book history of being a slave owner," says Princess Weekes of the vampire Louis role originally played by Brad Pitt in the 1994 film. "Race in New Orleans has played a minor role in many of Interview With the Vampire author Anne Rice’s series, with many mixed-race characters peppering the mostly white families that end up being the focus of her books, especially in the Mayfair witches.She tackles the gens de couleur libres or free people of color in The Feast of All Saints, especially. In general, there have been populations of free people of color in New Orleans, and there have also been mixed-race Black slave owners who did participate in slavery. It could be an interesting angle to explore in this new adaptation because we do have many mixed-race Black men throughout history we can pull from and use their experiences. What would it look like to have Lestat and Louis traveling together? Would they always travel as equals, or would Lestat’s whiteness overshadow Louis’s own wealth? Racebending always comes with a lot of stigma for the actor involved—harassment, accusations of them being cast for 'diversity points.' I have no doubt Jacob Anderson will be great in the role; I simply hope that if the writers are going to hire a bi-racial Black man to play this role, especially one of Afro-Caribbean and therefore enslaved ancestry, they will put some thought into what that character’s lived experience would be like. As a human and a vampire."