‘I prayed for an audition’: Aussie star Sam Reid follows in Tom Cruise’s footsteps

With production of the second season of ABC’s hit series The Newsreader barely underway, Australian actor Sam Reid jetted into San Diego’s annual Comic-Con this week on a lightning stopover to promote a series he filmed last year.

Interview with the Vampire, a remake of Anne Rice’s novel and film of the same name, launches on the AMC channel and streaming service in October. And Reid, who was nominated for an AACTA last year for The Newsreader, plays Lestat de Lioncourt: the role notably played by Tom Cruise in the 1994 film adaptation.

Jacob Anderson (known best as Grey Worm on Game of Thrones) plays alongside him as Louis de Pointe du Lac, the role played in the film by Brad Pitt.

Dale Jennings like you’ve never seen him before: actor Sam Reid as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire.Credit: Alfonso Bresciani / AMC

A new trailer for the series was screened during the panel, revealing how Louis and Lestat meet. And, speaking at the panel, Reid described himself as a “huge fan” of Anne Rice’s books.

“When I heard the show was being made, I prayed for an audition,” Reid said. “Then I got the part, and I felt the pressure that comes with the opportunity to portray a character I have a deep love for. It’s the greatest gift.”

Reid certainly wasn’t the only Australian representing at the event. For the past two decades, Comic-Con has become the engine which powers the Hollywood marketing machine – to launch a film franchise or a major television series without taking it to Comic-Con is almost unthinkable – and while the event might seem uniquely American, Australia has staged something of a takeover.

Actors such as Reid, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook and Milly Alcock, and creatives such as rising animation star Michael Cusack featured prominently in this year’s four-day pop culture-a-palooza.

Cusack, a 32-year-old self-taught animator known for his short series like Damo and Darren and Yolo, launched his new adult animation series at this year’s event. Koala Man follows Kevin (voiced by Cusack), an IT co-ordinator-by-day who decides to bring justice to the mean streets of Dapto by night.

Cusack writes and co-produces the series with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland. And, at the show’s Comic-Con panel, Cusack confirmed that Koala Man had locked in Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook and Demi Lardner for key roles. The series, which Hulu will launch in the US as part of its adult animation slate, will hit Australia in 2023 on Disney+.

Australian animator/producer Michael Cusack attends the 2022 Comic-Con panel for Hulu’s Koala Man.Credit: Frank Micelotta / 20th Television

Over in Comic-Con’s cavernous Hall H, Australian actress Milly Alcock took a bow with the cast of the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. Alcock plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in the series, the young heiress to House Targaryen whose debated claim on the so-called “Iron Throne” becomes the political grenade that ignites the series’ story.

And the panel for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power had Australian actors Markella Kavenagh, Sara Zwangobani and Tyroe Muhafidin on hand spruiking the series. It was arguably the strongest event of the convention thanks to a 180-degree wraparound presentation of the show’s trailer and an in-person performance of the score by a full orchestra conducted by composer Bear McCreary.

This was one of three blue-chip launches for major fantasy franchises (House of the Dragon and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves also put on a show). But there were also major announcements for Paramount’s Star Trek franchise and the Disney-owned Marvel Studios.

Paramount announced a “crossover” event for two of its series, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The crossover involves two of the Lower Decks crew, Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), joining the Captain Pike’s Enterprise in Strange New Worlds. (One as-yet unexplained complication: the two shows are set a century apart.)

The studio also unveiled the first trailer for the third season of Star Trek: Picard which reunites Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) with his Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, played by actors LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden and Marina Sirtis.

And perhaps the biggest cinema reveal at the four-day convention was Marvel’s upcoming slate, notably the “phase five” piece of the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed “phase four” would conclude with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, due out later this year, and “phase five” would begin with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, due out in early 2023. He also unveiled a new trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Feige confirmed a Hawkeye spin-off titled Echo will launch in mid-2023; a new series, Ironheart, in late-2023; and a WandaVision spin-off starring Kathryn Hahn and titled Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which will come at the end of 2023. All three programs are bound for Disney+.

The next sequence of Marvel feature films were also announced at the panel include Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (releasing May 2023), The Marvels (July 2023), Blade (November 2023), Captain America: New World Order (May 2024), Thunderbolts (July 2024), Fantastic Four (November 2024) and two Avengers movies: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (May 2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (November 2025).

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