While Nicolas Cage plays Dracula in the upcoming Renfield, he’s a supporting player compared to other adaptations of the legendary vampire. Playing the nightwalker already sent Twitter into a tizzy as they got a glimpse of his portrayal in the Renfield trailer. Now, Cage is explaining what he wants to do more with the iconic vampire in the future, and the Face/Off alum already has an idea for Dracula before the horror comedy debuts.
The Oscar winner spoke about revisiting the bloodsucker after the 2023 movie release hits theaters on April 14, and why he'd like to play Dracula again. He opened up about exploring more of Dracula’s story to Variety following his acceptance of the Legend and Groundbreaker Award. Playing Dracula fell within Cage’s penchant for quirky and left-of-field characters. With the legendary vampire being relegated to a narcissistic boss in the horror comedy, the Con Air actor is ready to take the Bram Stoker character beyond his current iteration.
This is the perfect amount of time for Dracula in this movie. But I wouldn’t mind exploring how did Dracula become Dracula? How did you become that guy? I want to take the time to portray that, to see how he got there. To me, Dracula was always [about] love and exile. He’s unrequited love, and ultimately, if you don’t get love back, you’re gonna go bad. I want to look at that.
If anyone can explore the depths of Dracula’s backstory, it is Cage. In many theatrical movies featuring the iconic vampire, he’s just a menacing presence hellbent on keeping himself alive. However, the character study the National Treasure star is proposing here could open up the Transylvanian nobleman to a story based on his life before becoming a nightwalker. The timing would be perfect for Cage to get more in-depth seeing as the last film to feature the fictional vampire as the main character was 2014’s Dracula Untold.
Getting a solo Dracula movie would continue the horror route the Pig actor has been on for a while. Appearing in films like Color Out of Space, Prisoners of the Ghostland, and the horror-comedy Willy’s Wonderland has shown that he really loves working within this genre. So, playing the Transylvanian vampire in a standalone movie would be a nice addition to his cavalcade of memorable characters.
Nicolas Cage revealed the “narcissistic boss” angle will show moviegoers a different perspective of the iconic bloodsucker. He referred to Dracula as “the boss from hell” as the comedy explores the “toxic relationship” between his character and his usually grotesque assistant played by the handsome Nicholas Hoult. Cage called the upcoming film “a unique take” on the tried-and-true relationship between the two characters.
Of course, Nicolas Cage will have to wait on news of a Count Dracula spinoff based on Renfield’s box office reception. After the horror comedy premieres, the Oscar winner will appear in the psychological thriller Sympathy for the Devil, which arrives in theaters on July 28.
