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Meet Aaliyah's last leading man | 182929__stuart_l
STUART BIG Despite losing ''Rings,'' Townsend had fun playing the Vampire Lestat
Stuart Townsend: Henny Garfunkel/Retna
By Liane Bonin
Liane Bonin
Liane Bonin is a senior writer for EW.com

In ''Interview with the Vampire'' (1994), Tom Cruise chewed the scenery -- and some costars -- as the rogue bloodsucker Lestat. Now Irish newcomer Stuart Townsend is tapping the same vein, playing Lestat in Warner Bros. new ''Queen of the Damned.'' EW.com talked to Townsend, 29, about ''Damned,'' mourning costar Aaliyah, and why he's happy he was robbed of Viggo Mortensen's role in ''Lord of the Rings.''

Considering your biggest role to date was in the indie film ''About Adam,'' what does it feel like to go Hollywood?
This was my biggest film in terms of dollars and Hollywood, but I wasn't that impressed with the script. I could take it or leave it. What I was interested in was the character, this rock star vampire. But considering this was the first time I'd ever done something I wasn't 100 percent sure of, it turned out that I had a lot of personal, amazing experiences.

Such as?
Getting in front of 3,000 people and doing the rock star thing. I got to put on my leather pants and, because it's just a movie, not fall on my ass. In real life I can play guitar, sure, but badly.


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