Renfield Star Was "In Awe" of Nicolas Cage's Dracula Performance

Renfield recently wrapped production ahead of its release next year, and Ben Schwartz is feeling pretty good about it. Schwartz plays a character named Teddy Lobo in the flick, a mobster somehow tied to the eponymous sidekick and Nic Cage's villainous Dracula. In fact, it's the performance of Cage that left Schwartz awe struck when on set.

"People don't even know. There's so much more. There's so much more Nic Cage that you haven't seen," the Sonic alumnus said in a recent interview with The Playlist. "Nic Cage was a dream and lovely to work with. And when I was doing scenes with him, he was great, totally committed, and 100% in it. And you're just in awe…"

Schwartz and Cage are just two of a pretty extensive ensemble on the horror comedy. They'll be joined by Nicholas Hoult, who's playing the eponymous sidekick. Awkwafina, Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Bess Rous, and James Moses Black are also in the movie.

It's produced by Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment, and Kirkman initially pitched the story to Universal. Chris McKay is direct from a screenplay by Ryan Ridley. Cage previously compared the film to American Werewolf in London and other similar projects.

"I want it to pop in a unique way from how we've seen it played," the actor shared with Variety of the project's appeal. "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 super fun is that it's a comedy," Cage confessed. "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."

Renfield is expected to hit theaters on April 14, 2023.

What other classic Universal Monsters would you like to see get the Renfield treatment? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments below or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter!