Nicolas Cage Teases a Funny and Unique Dracula Performance in Renfield

Set to play Dracula in the upcoming horror comedy Renfield, Nicolas Cage says he’s going to bring something new to the character.

In what might be one of his most entertaining roles yet, Nicolas Cage will play Count Dracula in the upcoming movie Renfield. Primarily following Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) as the titular henchman, the film also stars Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) and Ben Schwartz (Sonic the Hedgehog). The film is based on an original outline by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and is directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie).

Full plot details haven’t been revealed, but we know that this will be a comedic take on the classic Dracula story. In a new interview with Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, Cage shed some new light on the project by speaking about his inspirations. As a longtime fan of the Dracula character, he went back to looking at classic performances of the character up to Gary Oldman’s take in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

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“I can tell you that it’s amazing. It’s a really fun and exciting opportunity… I looked at Bela Lugosi’s performance, and then I looked at Frank Langella’s performance. I looked at Gary [Oldman]’s performance in [Cage’s uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s] movie, which I think it’s just so sumptuous. Every frame is a work of art.”

While Cage is studying various Dracula performances, it’s not to emulate them. In fact, it’s the opposite. What Cage is really trying to do is deliver a Dracula performance that has never been seen by any other actor. He mentions that he wants to give a particular focus to the way Dracula moves, inspired heavily by something he saw in the recent horror film Malignant.

“I want it to pop in a unique way from how we’ve seen it played. So I’m thinking to really focus on the movement of the character. You know, I saw Malignant and I thought what she did with those moves — and even ‘Ringu’ with Sadako [Yamamura] … I want to look at what we can explore with this movement and voice.”

Make no mistake, Renfield is a horror comedy, and this is good news for Cage. The humor allows him to take the Dracula character to places he otherwise not be able to in a straightforward gothic horror film, as has been the case with most Dracula adaptations. As Cage explains, he is especially fond of the comedy aspects of the film, though he is still trying to find the right balance between comedy and horror.

“What makes it super fun is that it’s a comedy. And when you get that tone right — comedy and horror — like American Werewolf in London, it’s a blast. It’s got to be a bulls-eye. But that’s what I’m looking for, something new to bring to the character, and also that perfect tone of comedy and horror.”

If there’s one person who can pull this off, it’s Nicolas Cage. Renfield does not yet have a set release date, but it sure sounds like a movie not to miss for any Cage fan.

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Jeremy Dick
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Jeremy Dick has been writing for MovieWeb and Horror Geek Life for years, is the self-proclaimed biggest fan of Bob Saget, and doesn’t particularly like talking about himself in the third person.

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