Interview with a Vampire author Anne Rice has turned her back on Christianity after becoming troubled by recent controversies surrounding the church.

The writer, whose gothic novel inspired the hit Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise movie of the same name, has been a follower of the faith for years and released her memoir, Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, in 2008.

But on Wednesday, Rice stunned fans on her Facebook.com page when she posted a note which read: "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. ...

Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to become the movie world's latest vampire sensation. The Iron Man star is in negotiations to play Anne Rice's Lestat Du Lioncort in the latest movie adaptation of her "Vampire Chronicles", according to BloodyDisgusting.com.

Tom Cruise and Stuart Townsend have both played the part in Interview With the Vampire and Queen of the Damned, respectively.

Lestat de Lioncourt is a fictitious French nobleman who becomes a vampire in the 18th century.

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Tom Cruise's Interview With The Vampire bloodsucker Lestat has 'bitten' Christopher Lee's Dracula and Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen in a bloody new poll of Hollywood's best bat men.

Anne Rice's charming Lestat claims top spot in Entertainment Weekly's list of Greatest Vampires, while Draculas played by Lee and Bela Lugosi come in second and third. Twilight's Cullen character is fourth.

Also making the top 20 are Gary Oldman's Dracula, Reggie Nalder's Mr. Barlow from TV mini-series Salem's Lot, and Kiefer Sutherland's Lost Boys vampire, David.

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Let's blame Anne Rice. She started it, this whole vampire craze. We used to be fans, but enough is enough. Sure, vampires have been popular fodder for ages, but once you slap a pair of fangs on Brad Pitt, you can kiss the scary bit goodbye.

There used to be standards, you know. There used to be rules. No sun, no garlic, a stake to the heart and kaput. Burnings were good, as were decapitations, and you were safe so long as God was your co-pilot. Vampires were evil, blood-sucking fiends from places like Romania. They owned castles and could turn into bats. They lived in shadows. They had ...

Happy Birthday to actress Rachel Leigh Cook (1979), actress Alicia Silverstone (1976), actor Liev Schreiber (1967), Cuban singer Jon Secada (1961), musician Afrika Bambaataa (1960), Pet Shop Boys singer Chris Lowe (1959), actor Armand Assante (1949), Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon (1946), vampire novelist Anne Rice (1941), actor and former NRA spokesman Charlton Heston (1924), comedian Buster Keaton (1895), and 19th President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes (1822).

Happy Birthday to actress Rachel Leigh Cook (1979), actress Alicia Silverstone (1976), actor Liev Schreiber (1967), Cuban singer Jon Secada (1961), musician Afrika Bambaataa (1960), Pet Shop Boys singer Chris Lowe (1959), actor Armand Assante (1949), Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon (1946), vampire novelist Anne Rice (1941), actor and former NRA spokesman Charlton Heston (1924), comedian Buster Keaton (1895), and 19th President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes (1822).