Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult on "overdoing it" as Dracula and Renfield
Renfield shifts the focus from Count Dracula to one of the more minor characters in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Directed by Chris McKay, written by Ryan Ridley and based on an idea from Robert Kirkman, the movie brings the classic story into the modern day. Set in New Orleans, Count Dracula's lackey Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) finds a new lease on life when he falls in love with Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), if only he could get his boss off his back...
In the cover feature for the latest issue of Total Film magazine (opens in new tab), the cast and crew spoke about balancing genres and getting the tone right for the new movie. Admitting that what he had in mind was "dancing on the head of a pin", McKay’s path from The Lego Batman Movie and The Tomorrow War led him to Renfield with a sharp eye for comedy and action, but he turned up without a roadmap for a film with many more genre ambitions.
"In terms of other movies that do this well, there are a lot more swings than hits," he admits. "But I think part of it is the way it’s framed – we’ve got action and comedy and horror and romance but it’s all seen through an awkward, weird lens. I looked at it a bit like the weird world-building in John Wick. It’s all too easy to just run straight back to those classics that I grew up with, but the challenge is to make it a little bit different. And when you hire Nic Cage, finding that difference just becomes a whole lot easier…"
Cage committed himself completely to the the role, and even offered up a raft of tweaks to Ridley’s script ("it seemed crazy at the time, but then you go, well, it’s Nicolas Cage playing Dracula, like, let him say whatever he wants…" says Ridley). Part of that commitment meant spending 14-hour days in costume to
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