Movies - TV
Nicolas Cage Looked To This Classic Dracula To Inspire His Performance In Renfield
By DEVIN MEENAN
In "Renfield," Nicolas Cage becomes the latest in a long line of actors to play Dracula. While he did look toward the utterly bonkers horror film "Malignant" for inspiration, here is what the actor had to say about which Dracula star he looked for in his performance.
As seen in the "Renfield" trailer, Dracula wears rings across his fingers, a black overcoat with fur shoulders, and walks with a cane (presumably just for show). His entire maw is filled with thin pointed teeth, and his skin seems to be pale white, but the lighting makes it look sickly green.
Cage told Collider that not a lot of the look came from him: "There were a ton of super-talented people [...] that helped design the look. We wanted it to be more homage, more Christopher Lee. I favored Christopher Lee as Dracula and I liked his kind of '60s hairdo, but the wardrobe, the costume, [...] that was really their contribution."
While speaking with Variety about his character’s voice origins, Cage surprisingly mentioned his late father, August Coppola, who was an academic focused on literature and the arts. In another interview with Post Cred Pod, Cage talked about how and why he channeled his father to play Dracula.
"[My father] had a Mid-Atlantic accent [...] You want to know why I talk like this Nicolas? Because I made a decision to speak with distinction. [...] Dad looks like Christopher Lee, Dad kind of sounds like he's in a Hammer Horror film, and I did Dad in 'Vampire's Kiss,' so I'm gonna bring him back from the afterlife as Dracula," said Cage.