River Phoenix is astounding in this... but....

I definitely agree about Interview with the Vampire. I can't believe he got the small part of Daniel, when they had the chance to cast him as Louis, and Anne Rice would have been given her blessing, I think that he was who she had in mind when the initial project for the movie was given the go-ahead. The character of Louis seemed like it was made for him. Pitt did absolutely nothing to convey the depth and emotions of that character. River should have gotten the part. I can imagine how better the film would have been if he'd been in it. I imagine all the scenes with Pitt replaced by River and it would have really done wonders for that film. Sadly though, even if he had gotten the role, he would not have lived long enough to be in it.
And sometimes I just wonder sometimes how big of an actor River would have really been had he not passed away so soon. The films he had been in in the few years prior to his death were definitely not box-office hits, but it seems like that's the way he preferred it. He liked taking roles like the ones he did in My Private Idaho and Dark Blood. He obviously did not care about the money and fame, and the Hollywood leading-man and sex symbol type was just not who he is or who he wanted to be (he absolutely loathed being seen as a teen idol too, and with him growing up, he thought it would put a definitive end to being marketed as such). I think had he not died, he would have been an indie actor, or quit acting altogether, as he had been contemplating before his death.