TORONTO – Revered filmmaker Jim Jarmusch puts his stamp on the vampire genre with his latest stylized feature, “Only Lovers Left Alive,” featuring Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton as a couple of bloodsuckers who’ve been married centuries.

But describing this atmospheric reverie as a vampire film isn’t exactly fair, said co-star Anton Yelchin, who plays the only human Hiddleston’s anti-social rock star Adam can tolerate.

“I’ve worked on a vampire film. ‘Fright Night’ was a vampire film — there’s a monster, it’s the vampire who wants to kill people, it’s very camp and it’s got a lot of blood and it’s a horror film,” Yelchin said during a stop at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September when the film screened.

“This isn’t one. They just happen to be vampires.”

The monsters here are more likely to be the brute humans Adam and Eve take pains to avoid, even as fans clamour outside the door to Adam’s ramshackle Detroit mansion, where he makes funereal analog music.

His erudite partner Eve, meanwhile, lives in Tangiers, reading books in many languages and reminiscing about bygone days with her closest friend, Christopher Marlowe, played by John Hurt.

The lovers reunite in Detroit (via a complicated flight schedule necessitated by Eve’s aversion to daylight) but their languid evenings of sipping blood from cocktail glasses are soon interrupted by Eve’s trouble-making sister, played by Mia Wasikowska.

“I see this as a love story and a film about the condition of the human soul,” said Yelchin, noting that vampires are the perfect way to explore such heady issues.

“The vampire element in it is just a generic device used to explore the eternal and the ephemeral and what happens if you’re immortal? How do you deal with everything, the sort of natural entropy of all things? How do you find beauty in those things, how do you find temporary or eternal beauty or happiness?”

Yelchin’s long-haired Ian offers the morose Adam fleeting distraction from a deep depression over constant human folly. Ian also idolizes the reclusive musical genius, but earns his keep as a supplier of rare guitars.

Preparing for the role involved hanging out in Detroit music clubs, said the 25-year-old Yelchin, who immersed himself in local debates about the city’s recent decline and rich cultural legacy.

“The reason that Ian cares about Adam so much and is so gracious with Adam is because Adam is like a ray of light, he’s a beacon of hope,” says Yelchin, a self-described “guitar geek” who spent his off-time at the festival guitar-shopping on Queen Street West.

“(Ian) cares about music and he cares about Detroit and he cares about Detroit rock-and-roll and the music scene there and suddenly this reclusive genius lives in this home and he gets to work for him. He’s honoured, you know. It makes his life better, gives his life meaning, it gives him hope.”

But more than the music, it was Jarmusch who drew Yelchin to the project.

“It was a dream of mine — I would do anything in any of his films, anything,” he gushes. “I couldn’t believe that I was getting to speak to Jim Jarmusch about a film he was making.”

He says he’s seen all of the indie icon’s films, even his first micro-budget film, “Permanent Vacation.”

“He’s one of the great thinkers that we have, the great thinkers of the 20th century. I think of great filmmakers first and foremost as philosophers and he’s one of the great philosophers.”

Yelchin heaped equal praise on Swinton, who is 20 years Hiddleston’s senior but pairs beautifully as his eternal mate, he said.

“I mean they both look so beautiful, I could look at them for hours, they really are stunning on screen,” he said, noting that Swinton brings a regal quality to the role.

“They seem both like they’re from a different planet and yet very earthly at the same time, like beasts, you know. They’re these kind of alien beasts and I don’t know, Tilda has some of the most incredible energy as a human being, just the warmth that she exudes, of anybody I’ve ever been around and it just melts you.”

Hiddleston, meanwhile, proved he had the varied musical chops to incarnate the nostalgia-drenched Adam, who noodles on various instruments including a violin.

Yelchin said it’s that kind of artistry and commitment to performance that drives his own burgeoning career and diverse resume, including the feature “5 to 7” which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

“When people are incredibly invested in something and have considered it so much … you realize there’s an energy, there’s a potent energy there that you then tap into to create this thing with them,” he said.

“I make decisions in a number of different ways and it’s usually about people involved and also characters. I try to think of things as: This job is about the privilege of playing a different character and so I try to do that as much as possible.”

“Only Lovers Left Alive” opens Friday Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal before heading to other cities throughout the spring.

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