10 Movie Sequel Recastings That Were TERRIBLE

In 1994, Tom Cruise shocked and delighted audiences with one of the best performances of his career, playing sadistic, cursed vampire Lestat in the brilliant Anne Rice adaptation Interview with the Vampire.

Cruise was phenomenal in the role, effortlessly leaning into the twisted insanity of the monster whilst finding subtle ways to remind audiences of the man under the bloodlust.

A few years later, Lestat was brought back to the big screen in the stand-alone sequel Queen of the Damned, only this time he was portrayed by Stuart Townsend as the lead singer of a hard rock band who awakens an immortal spirit...with his music. Because why not?

Save for the soundtrack, Queen of the Damned is an absolutely abysmal slice of early aughts cheese. But by far the biggest let-down of the film is Townsend, who plays Lestat not as the twisted, conflicted soul he was in Interview with the Vampire, but as a brooding loner who speaks in clichés and has no other discernible character traits.

A lot of this is down to the script, sure, but Townsend seems like he's reading his lines from a teleprompter for the first time, and the results are laughably cringe-worthy.