Jonathan Mendelsohn
Any fan of Nicolas Cage knows that he is an actor that is not afraid to go all out for a role, and that is exactly what he has done for his new film Renfield, according to director Chris McKay. In Renfield, which is a horror comedy, Cage takes on the iconic role of Dracula.
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Director Chris McKay spoke to Insider about Cage’s performance, revealing that Cage hardly ever broke character, even when the cameras weren’t rolling. McKay said, “Whatever scene we did he would still be 100% living in that attitude after we stopped shooting. So if he’s a little frosty in the scene he’s going to have a little bit of that between takes, but still up for whatever we were doing.”
The Dedication of Nicolas Cage
Cage always manages to bring the strangest characters to life, and he certainly seems to possess a certain technique that allows him to do so. Cage was featured on Variety‘s Awards Circuit podcast back in 2021, where he spoke about fully embodying the role of Dracula in Renfield.
Cage said “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.” Well, if anything McKay recently said rings true, then Cage certainly achieved what he set out to accomplish.
Cage further spoke on the film, saying, “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 bullseye. But that’s what I’m looking for, something new to bring to the character and also that perfect tone of comedy and horror.”
Renfield hits theaters on April 14, and stars Nicholas Hoult as the titular character, who is the henchman of Cage’s Dracula and attempts to escape his nightmarish boss in order to live a free life. Renfield also stars Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz and Adrian Martinez.
