Renfield Star Says Nic Cage Is “Bizarre” as Dracula

Last year, it was announced that Oscar-winning actor, Nicolas Cage, would be playing Dracula in Renfield, the upcoming monster movie from Universal Pictures. The film is being directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie) and will star Nicholas Hoult as the titular character, the henchman of Dracula. This isn’t the first time Hoult has worked with the actor. Back in 2005, they starred in The Weather Man together then Hoult was just a teenager. Hoult recently had a chat with The Hollywood Reporter about his new movie, The Menu, and talked about working with Cage in Renfield. 

“I felt so fortunate to be back on set with him because I’m such a fan of his,” Hoult shared. “But to get to work with him whilst he was playing Dracula, I don’t think there’s two more iconic things than Dracula and Nic Cage. So, to put those together and be in scenes with him and just watch all the inspiration and all the things that he brings to the character, the fun of it, the dedication, his love for acting, I just loved every single moment. As a person, he’s such a pure soul to be around, and I’m excited for people to see what he’s done. It’s original, but it’s steeped in a lot of history, Dracula history and folklore. So it’s exciting, even though it’s a very bizarre, elevated tone for an action-comedy. So I’m excited for it.”

Who Is Starring in Renfield? 

In addition to Cage and Hoult, Renfield will also star Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘s Awkwafina as well as Sonic the Hedgehog‘s Ben Schwartz. Other cast members include Adrian Martinez, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Bess Rous, and James Moses Black

“People don’t even know. There’s so much more. There’s so much more Nic Cage that you haven’t seen,” Schwartz 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…”

“I want it to pop in a unique way from how we’ve seen it played,” Cage previously 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.”  

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