Nicolas Cage's casting as Dracula in the upcoming comedy horror film Renfield has excited many. But following the trailer's release, Nicholas Hoult's forthcoming performance in the titular role has stoked much excitement. In anticipation of Renfield's release, and after 100 years of Dracula movies, here is a look at each actor who has played Renfield.
In Bram Stoker's seminal 1897 Gothic novel Dracula, R. N. Renfield is an inmate in Dr. John Seward's lunatic asylum. He is observed to eat insects and birds, believing that he could achieve immortality by consuming their lives. It is later revealed that Renfield is under the power of Count Dracula himself, who bestowed this form of vampirism upon him. Numerous incarnations of the Renfield, Dracula's fly-eating madman, have served the Count over the decades, but only those who appear in Dracula movies have been included for this list.
1922 Alexander Granach As Knock In Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror
The first adaptation of the novel Dracula, and the first live-action Renfield, F. W. Murnau's classic German Expressionism film infamously neglected to acquire the rights from Bram Stoker's family to do so. Resultantly, Murnau changed character names and locations, turning Renfield into Knock — played by Alexander Granach. In Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror, Knock also assimilates Mr. Hawkins, the employer of the hero Jonathon Harker (renamed Hutter).
1931 Dwight Frye In Todd Browning's Dracula
Probably the most iconic interpretation of Count Dracula's henchman Renfield, Dwight Frye created many of the character's associated idiosyncrasies. Most notable are his tone of voice, rictus grin, and wild eyes. Browning's Dracula is not based on the novel but the stage play of the same name — during which Renfield takes the place of Harker as the real estate agent who visits Dracula in Transylvania. Dracula takes Renfield to England, where he resumes his bug-eating asylum antics.
1970 Klaus Kinski Opposite Christopher Lee In Hammer's Count Dracula
One of the most iconic Count Dracula performances has an equally memorable Renfield. Initially turned mad by Dracula in Transylvania, somehow connected to the loss of his daughter, Count Dracula features a mute Renfield, played by German actor Kalus Kinski. The film was first publicized as the most faithful adaptation, which it was in 1970, making only minor changes from the novel for Hammer's Dracula, starring Christopher Lee.
1979 Tony Haygarth In Dracula
The first of three Dracula movies released in 1979, Dracula was directed by John Badham, who opted to highlight the romantic aspects of the novel and 1924 stage play. Tony Haygath's character is named Milo Renfield, first enthralled and enslaved by Dracula while unloading boxes at Dracula's new English estate, Carfax Abbey, before later being admitted to Seward's asylum. However, unlike the novel, this version of Renfield would never make it out of the asylum.
1979 Roland Topor For Werner Herzog's Nosferatu The Vampire
Werner Herzog's remake of F. W. Murnau's classic, Nosferatu The Vampire, employed previous Renfield actor, Klaus Kinski, as Count Dracula. Many characters assumed a similar role as Murnau's Nosferatu, but with original Dracula names reinstated. The role of Renfield went to Roland Topor, who plays a giggling rendition of Harker's employer, committed to an asylum as a plague spreader and for biting a cow in an apparent fit of madness.
1979 Arte Johnson In Comedy Horror Movie Love At First Bite
The final of 1979's three Dracula movies, Love At First Bite, was a comedy horror film starring George Hamilton as Count Dracula. Renfield was played by comedian Arte Johnson, whose version of the character is a lifelong servant of his vampire master, joining him on his relocation to New York City. Johnson's Renfield was often a blatant spoof of Dwight Frye's definitive rendition of the character.
1992 Tom Waits In Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula
The most novel-accurate Renfield, and Dracula movie in general, is Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie, Bram Stoker's Dracula. The all-star cast featured musician Tom Waits as Renfield alongside Anthony Hopkins in the horror movie adaptation. Renfield here takes his original place within the lunatic asylum, connected somehow to Count Dracula, who he both fears and obeys. Renfield is Harker's predecessor as Dracula's estate agent-turned-slave, driven mad and incarcerated before Harker's initial travels to Transylvania.
1995 Peter MacNicol In Mel Brooks' Spoof Dracula: Dead And Loving It
Arguably the funniest of the Dracula spoofs, Mel Brooks' second horror parody, Dracula: Dead And Loving It, might be the most beloved Dracula movie. The movie combines aspects from the novel and its various adaptations and stars Peter MacNicol as Renfield. MacNicol's Renfield plays a much larger part than the novel and many movies. Renfield, specifically, parodies Dwight Frye's 1931 Renfield: most notably in mannerisms, but he also follows the same story arc (the initial estate agent who visits Dracula and subsequently travels to London before incarceration in Dr. Seward's asylum). However, additional scenes were added to the horror spoof, drawing on Renfield's servile nature and MacNicol's brilliant performance.
2012 Ian Pfister In Dracula Reborn
The direct-to-video movie Dracula Reborn attempted to bring the classic vampire story into the modern world. Changing the novel's latter London location, Dracula buys his property in Los Angeles, where Renfield would serve as his assistant. However, Renfield (and Dracula Reborn) shares little with his literary counterpart. Instead, he has decidedly more agency, referred to as Dracula's associate rather than his servant, and is depicted as bald and formally dressed with a demeanor suggestive of a butler. Though the movie was somewhat critically panned, Pfister's portrayal of Renfield was praised.
2012 Giovanni Franzoni In Dario Argento's Dracula 3D
Director and horror master Dario Argento sought to update the original Bram Stoker story with modern graphics and technology in Dracula 3D. Argento made many changes, notably expanding the backstory of one of Dracula's Brides, naming her Tania. Though Giovanni Frazoni's Renfield acknowledges Count Dracula as his master, in Dracula 3D, his character is driven by his love for Tania.
2022 Stuart Packer In Dracula: The Original Living Vampire
A complete overhaul of Bram Stoker's original novel, Dracula: The Original Living Vampire, features a somewhat different Renfield than previous movies. Captain Renfield is a highly respected detective, the direct superior to investigator Amelia Van Helsing who has been tasked with solving a series of brutal murders. Stuart Packer's character is initially a complete departure from the novel and previous cinematic incarnations, though he is later connected to the vampire Count Dracula.
2023 Nicholas Hoult With Nicolas Cage in Renfield
The culmination of 100 years of cinema, the upcoming Renfield features Nicholas Hoult as the titular servant seeking solace from his abusive employer, Count Dracula. Renfield still suffers from a form of vampirism, but here, Renfield gains superpowers from eating insects. With this his first solo film, Renfield will be given substantially more screen time than ever. Hoult's performance draws from Frye's idiosyncratic, servile characterization, which first brought the character into the mainstream, combining this with the modern sensibilities of movies like What We Do In The Shadows. Renfield promises to give the character the attention he deserves, and it will be released in cinemas on April 14, 2023.