Nicolas Cage is one his most iconic actors. With good reason, too – the Oscar winner’s career trajectory has been a mixture of blockbuster action classics and obscure, so-bad-they’re-good films. He’s approached each role he takes with a unique combination of authenticity and eccentricity. So it’s not surprising that he would take on a Legendary Universal Monsters Role – Dracula. What It is a little surprising, though, is what horror movies he’s drawing inspiration from.
After a stirring turn the indie drama PigPlaying and? An optimist version of him In the upcoming Massive Talent’s Unbearable WeightNic Cage has his sights set on a movie about monsters. It’s honestly kind of perfect that he’ll be playing the most famous vampire of all time in Universal’s Renfield. Though he’s stepped back from making major studio films in recent years, it seems that Cage is enthusiastic about the opportunity – and is already planning his own unique approach.
The actor was recently seen on Variety’s Awards CircuitPodcast and explained that she’s a longtime fan of Bram Stoker’s classic novel. He’s also watched some of the more iconic takes on the role – name Bella Lugosi, Frank Langella and Gary Oldman in his uncle’s version of Dracula – while preparing for the role. The actor admitted that even though they were inspiring, he struggled to figure out how to approach the role.
I was like ‘What can I bring that will be different?’Because I want it to pop in an original way. We’ve seen it played well, we’ve seen it played not so well, so what can we do? And 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 would like to explore what we can do with his voice and movement.
If you’ve seen either of those films, you can probably understand why Nicolas Cage would be inspired by those performances, even if they’re not vampire stories. The creepy Gabriel (Marina Mazepa), performing contortionsThis helped to make Malignant One of the top horror films of 2021. And there’s a reason why RinguStill considered to be one of The best Japanese horror films ever made – Sadako’s otherworldly movements are unforgettable.
We can get a hint at what to expect from him by knowing that he was inspired and moved by these films. Renfield. He seems to have more in his mind than just scaring us.
But for me, 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. You gotta get it right, it’s gotta 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.
We know Nic Cage is more than capable of pulling off just about any genre in his own unique way, so if this is the approach they’ll be taking for RenfieldIt sounds promising. There’s no word yet on when the film will begin production – but there is a list of The Universal Classic Monster Movies are coming soonTo look forward to.