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Renfield follows Dracula's long-suffering henchman, who is tired of serving the vampire who created him. In modern-day New Orleans, he unexpectedly meets a traffic cop named Rebecca Quincy, which changes everything. This chance encounter spurs Renfield to build a life of his own and try to do the right thing to make up for years of wrongdoing in the name of his master. Renfield's insubordination will have dangerous consequences, which will see Renfield go up against Dracula to gain his freedom from the vampiric monster.
Renfield features a star-studded cast led by Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Renfield is directed by Chris McKay from a script written by Ryan Ridley based on a story by Robert Kirkman. Renfield continues the epic legacy of the Universal Monster movies, but from a completely original perspective.
Screen Rant spoke with Renfield creator Robert Kirkman and director Chris McKay about their new movie. McKay shared what Cage brings to Dracula and why incorporating practical effects was so important to him. Kirkman explained what inspired him to tell Renfield's story and how he felt about adding to the legacy of Universal Monster movies.
Chris McKay & Robert Kirkman on Renfield
Screen Rant: This is the best movie I've seen so far this year. I absolutely love the genre-blending. Chris, how do you balance action, horror, and heart? Talk to me about blending all that together and making a masterpiece.
Chris McKay: It starts with the script. It starts with the treatment that Robert wrote [and] the script that Ryan wrote. They really understood this world [and] understood these characters. They created an emotionally vulnerable protagonist who had a long way to go to overcome a big conflict with Dracula. So a lot of stuff was already baked into it. And then bringing in really great team members.
You have to ground it in something real. You have to ground it in a world that you understand as being real with the real stunt work. We wanted to build practical effects [and] practical stunt work. Stuff that felt grounded. So that the humor could come out of the situations [and] out of the characters. It wasn't meant to be a parody. It's meant to be something that you do find to be emotional at the end of it.
It has a fantastic message as well. Robert, what was it about Renfield's relationship with Dracula that inspired this version?
Robert Kirkman: People haven't really seen that relationship through Renfield's lens. Most of the time it's through the Dracula lens. It seemed like it would be kind of a unique take to look at it through Renfield's perspective and it seemed like it would make the story a little bit more relatable and a little bit more human. You're not necessarily dealing with all the vampire stuff. It's the vampire stuff that damages a real human being and how that affects him. Seemed like it'd be a fun take.
Nicolas Cage is brilliant in this film. He is perfect for this version of Dracula. Can you talk to me about working with Nick and the collaboration process of getting him to be this Dracula?
Chris McKay: Cage could be in any version of Dracula because he's such a versatile actor. We needed somebody who could credibly be intimidating. Somebody who could credibly be a monster. One of my favorite experiences working on this movie was that first scene where he was fighting with the vampire hunters and when Cage was roaring, and stuff like that.
He just throws his body into everything that he does, physically, mentally, he's such a joy to work with. There's nobody who's more enthusiastic about the filmmaking process than Nicolas Cage. And that was a lot of fun to be around.
Robert Kirkman: I've never seen someone go from funny to scary and back, nonstop so many times. It's really remarkable.
This is filled with an incredible cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina. What did they bring to their roles that wasn't necessarily on the page?
Chris McKay: Awkwafina, she is such a cartoon character, just the way that she did her line readings, her body language. I mean, she is truly a cartoon character. I think honestly, without Hoult or Cage, I don't know if you could do this movie. They are so unique in their skill set. The tools that they have are so singular to them as actors. We just got really lucky that they were available and said yes because honestly, when I read the script, I couldn't think of anybody but Nick Hoult to be able to do this.
Robert Kirkmam: If you think about all the roles he's played, the way he's able to harness sympathy in really unsympathetic characters. It's a remarkable skill.
Robert, this was a movie pitch that just went straight to film. Was there ever any idea of possibly making this a comic first and then going the film route, or was this always going to be a film for you?
Robert Kirkman: I do enough comics. Come on, man. [Laughs] No, it always just seemed like a movie. This is the Universal Monsters. There's such a legacy to the Universal Monsters. Being able to be a small part of that 100 year legacy was so exciting that I just want to do this movie.
About Renfield
Renfield has been Dracula's loyal henchman, but he longs for a life separate from the narcissistic vampire. He finds a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans when he meets traffic cop Rebecca Quincy and decides to stand up to his creator. However, his rebellion does not go unpunished, and Renfield will be forced to face off against Dracula in the hopes of breaking free from the endless cycle of death and bloodshed.
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