Years ago (five years next month) I watched Interview With a Vampire. As you know, all the Claudia scenes struck a chord within me that I couldn’t identify.
After some probing and finally some writing I discovered it wasn’t Claudia that truly struck me, but the concept of a child vampire. Of course from there we have Annabelle.
But all this time I’ve wondered about the “real” Claudia. Hollywood changes things to better fit the medium and I knew Kristen Dunst couldn’t have been absolutely book accurate.
Well, after all this time I’ve finally bought Anne Rice’s book and come to discover that “book Claudia” is different.
It’s amazing what difference size can make. Claudia was six and much shorter. Louis holds her in his arms as he walks but her power over him is very much like the wrinkled up tiny Voldermort in Wormtail’s arms. She’s more commanding and malevolent.
There are a great deal of similarities. She loves to read, is very smart and enjoys a good “meal”. She is tired of toys and wants to be older.
But the tiny size in my mind is a bigger difference than the hair color (“book Claudia” is blonde, not red). She’s just so wicked. I guess Rice was showing how innocence can look corrupt.
I wonder, if a CGI Claudia was used to show a six year old terror instead of double the age, or if Dunst played her more malevolent, would I have been inspired to create someone as completely different as Annabelle?
