Marius

When Anne Rice first considered the possibilty of her books being made into movies, she envisioned Rutger Hauer ("Blade Runner," "Batman Begins") as Lestat, and Hauer is mentioned as one of Lestat's favorite actors in the series. He's obviously too old now, but he would be great as Lestat's mentor.

Incidentally, Hauer is my ideal choice for Abraham VanHelsing if anyone gets around to making a good Dracula movie.