Nicolas Cage names his favourite Dracula
While Hollywood is a highly publicised arena that leaves little space for mystery, Nicolas Cage is a true enigma. Violently oscillating between masterful performances in films such as Leaving Las Vegas to trashy outings in critically maligned projects like The Wicker Man, it’s extremely difficult to figure out what Cage’s next movie is going to look like. In fact, most of his fans on social media regularly dedicate themselves to this impossible task.
After delivering a hilarious performance in the meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Cage is now going to take on one of the most iconic roles in film history – Count Dracula. Titled Renfield, Chris McKay’s latest horror comedy features Nicholas Hoult as Dracula’s titular eccentric servant who dreams of breaking free after falling in love. Even if the overall quality of the film proves to be subpar, the central pairing of Hoult and Cage promises to be a hoot.
In anticipation of Renfield, which is going to have its theatrical release next month, Cage spoke to Collider about the upcoming project. When asked about his favourite rendition of Dracula, the actor didn’t hesitate to cite Christopher Lee’s immortal performance. While praising Lee, Cage gushed: “My personal favourite? You know, in terms of Dracula on camera, my favourite image of the Dracula character is Christopher Lee.”
However, Cage’s favourite Dracula movie is actually the 1992 version directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which is still regarded by many as a flawed masterpiece. According to Cage, Coppola’s interpretation of Dracula’s extensive mythology transcends the individual contributions of the cast. Instead, it’s a coherent art piece that delves deeper into the philosophical framework of Dracula’s story.
The actor added: “In terms of a movie that really got into the pathos and the psyche of Dracula, you know it’s Coppola, it’s gotta be Coppola. I told Francis, ‘Every frame of your movie is a work of art.’ It’s a beautiful movie, and Gary [Oldman] is one of my favourite actors, but that’s not what this is. This is more of a – I call it more of a pop art because I don’t have the time to delve into the psyche of Dracula’s love and exile or Dracula as a lonely, supernatural force of unrequited love. I mean, it’s not this movie, this movie is very much a comedy, and I have to, within a finite amount of a few selected scenes, bring something that has a pop.”
In the same interview, Cage maintained that he was open to playing Dracula again: “If there’s room for it. I mean, I’m happy with the time that I had to play Dracula for Universal in this film, and I’m very happy I got to support Nic. I’ve been wanting to work with him for a while again. You know, I enjoyed our time on The Weather Man. I think it plays beautifully. I think what he brought to this character is totally brand new, and I’m very happy to be a part of that.”
Watch the trailer below.
