At this point, Nicolas Cage is famous for being well... Nicolas Cage, and the metaverse that is the actor isn’t lost on him, either. While he has had his fair share of flops in the movie industry, they've just added to the mythos surrounding him, which makes any future releases that much more special. Now, with his upcoming turn as Dracula, the actor is apparently doubling down on his own brand, because he has a pretty Nic Cage declaration ahead of taking on the iconic character.
Nicolas Cage recently spoke about his pet crow, because why wouldn’t he own his very own black crow? He comments on enjoying gothic elements, in reference to his feathered friend. So it actually shouldn't come as a surprise that during his interview with Variety, the Oscar winner made a very simple and on-brand declaration:
I am goth.
While the Pig star may not be the first person you think of when you think of the goth style, I can actually totally see what he’s talking about. The actor has played in a number of darker films and seems to be comfortable working within that aesthetic. This will certainly help in Universal's Renfield, in which he plays Dracula opposite Nicholas Hoult’s titular character.
In the same interview, Nicolas Cage talks about being inspired by other major horror flicks when taking on the persona of the classic Dracula. Apparently he plans to take great care with his movements when he finally becomes the character. And one recent horror flick actually provided him with some ideas:
The key, I think, is movement. I saw a movie called ‘Malignant’ and the director James Wan and the actress [Annabelle Wallis] created this choreography that was terrifying. So I’m hoping to do something like that where Dracula can either glide or move like Sadako in ‘Ring.’
If you’re familiar with all the different variations of the Dracula character throughout time, movement does play into how the character is portrayed. The original count, played by the horror legend Bela Lugosi, had a very distinct style of movement that impacted the way the iconic character has been viewed pretty much ever since.
While there's a good chance that Nicolas Cage has studied the past versions of the very character he’s set to play, his appreciation of other more modern horror films makes it likely that his interpretation will have some different characteristics that audiences aren't used to seeing with the horror figure. This isn’t really a new expectation, though, as Cage is pretty good as surprising his viewership.
Renfield still seems to be in the early days of production, and it sounds like Nicolas Cage hasn’t been able to dive into the character just yet. His self-proclaimed label as goth makes the role of cinema's most famous vampire pretty perfect for the actor (though don’t actually call him that), and I can’t wait to see how Cage portrays the monster. Who knows, maybe his pet crow will even make an appearance in the film, as that would be pretty fitting as well.
While you wait for more on Renfield, be sure to check out CinemaBlend's list of upcoming horror movies.
