4. Stuart Townsend - Lestat de Lioncourt
When Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat for Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice was reportedly furious and very vocal about this decision - believing he would ruin her novel. After the movie was released she issued a public apology to Cruise, praising his performance and admitting she was wrong. In fairness, Cruise was the wrong age, had the wrong hair color and was pretty much wrong for the part. Who knew that once he dyed his hair blonde he would nail it? When Stuart Townsend was cast in the 2002 sequel Queen of the Damned, Cruise's portrayal made fan's hopeful. The production of Queen of the Damned made no effort to alter Townsend's appearance, however. His hair remained dark and his eyes were not the piercing blue of the Brat Prince Rice described. Perhaps it is this lack of attention to detail that delivered a movie that was more memorable for it's soundtrack than it was for it's production.