Nicolas Cage is getting ready to dive into his new role in Universal Studios’ upcoming monster movie Renfield by turning to the horror genre for inspiration. In a recent interview, the star, who is set to play Dracula in a modern-day comedy movie centred around the Count’s henchmen Renfield (played by Nicholas Hoult), has turned to the horror movies Malignant and Ringu in preparation for his future undead performance.
During an episode of Variety’s Awards Circuit podcast, Cage was asked what he could share about the highly anticipated vampire movie Renfield, helmed by Chris McKay. Although he kept the film’s plot under wraps, the acclaimed actor did go into how he planned to make his Dracula stand out from the countless portrayals of the character that we’ve seen on the big screen before. It turns out that Cage’s interpretation of Dracula will be taking some pointers from the physicality in James Wan’s newest horror movie, Malignant, and one of the best ghost movies of all time, Ringu – also known as The Ring.
“I want it to pop in a unique way from how we’ve seen it played,” Cage said. “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.”
“What makes it [Renfield] super fun is that it’s a comedy,” the actor continued. “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.”
Dracula has typically been portrayed as a somewhat suave monster when looking at Bela Lugosi’s performance in 1931, Frank Langella’s portrayal in 1979, and even Gary Oldman in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula in 1992. We are curious to see what extreme movements Cage will bring to the vampiric table with his unique take on the iconic bloodsucker.
Currently, there is no set release date for Renfield. While we wait on more news, here is our list of the best zombie movies of all time for more undead fun.