The upcoming horror-comedy Renfield will star Nicholas Hoult as Dracula's titular minion and none other than Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula himself. Longtime fans of Cage who have watched him in his myriad of movies will not be surprised by this news, but newer fans might wonder if the actor, often known for being gleefully unhinged in his roles, has what it takes to pull off the Prince of Darkness.
That in his fourth decade of acting Cage should turn in one of his best performances to date in Pig should speak for his longevity, but what about his range? Amidst the direct-to-streaming titles that he's cranked out in the last few years have been horror gems like Color Out Of Space and Mandy, but looking back over the span of his career, there are numerous other performances across genres that put the nail in the coffin as to why Cage is the perfect actor to play Dracula.
Seth - City Of Angels (1998)
While Cage is certainly well known for his explosive and frenetic performances, fans need only look to City of Angels to see him at his most somber and sensitive playing an angel who falls in love with a human and forsakes his immortality to be with her.
His tall frame draped in a sweeping black trenchcoat, his hangdog expression and blue eyes betraying eons of sorrow, he offers a thoughtful and reflective embodiment of an immortal being, doomed to watch lovers consummate the passion of being alive for all eternity. If he plays Dracula as a brooding romantic, it doesn't get any better than Seth.
Peter Loew - Vampire's Kiss (1988)
A movie about the world's most famous vampire cannot be mentioned without also drawing attention to the underrated vampire movie Cage already made in the late '80s, Vampire's Kiss. Adopting a strange, melodramatic WASP accent, Cage plays a high-strung yuppie who loves his car stereo and screaming at his assistant. That all changes when he believes he's bitten by a beguiling vampire and becomes obsessed with the undead siren.
The first half is strange enough, but the second half is positively bonkers thanks to Cage running around New York City with fake fangs screaming the meme-able, "I'm a vampire!" to anyone who will listen. This character is arguably more like Renfield, and Cage will no doubt assume a more restrained equipoise when playing Count Dracula, but hopefully, he'll fill the role with tongue-in-cheek humor.
Robin Field - Pig (2021)
Besides being a great independent film for its heartfelt story and beautiful cinematography, Pig is an underrated Nicolas Cage movie recognized for the grounded character study at its center. He plays Rob, a truffle hunter whose prized truffle sniffing pig (and best friend) gets kidnapped, prompting him to leave his reclusive life in the woods to find her.
Much like Count Dracula, Rob is a stoic curmudgeon who doesn't particularly want to rejoin civilization but does so out of necessity. More at home with nature than with people, Rob has a tenuous connection to society thanks to the truffles he finds and must sell to high-end restaurants through his only associate — and Renfield understudy — Amir.
Johnny Blaze - Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
To take a peek at what Cage would be like playing a being with incredible supernatural abilities, skip ahead to the second in the Ghost Rider film franchise, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to showcase the skeletal antihero in full possession of his wild powers.
Blaze doesn't hold back in this movie and neither does Cage, and it's apparent the actor has been allowed to imbue more of his signature chaos into the role than what appears on the comic book page. If Dracula is given the ability to shapeshift into a wolf, disappear in a flurry of bats, or change into mist, Cage will already know how to make the transformations look convincing.
Frank Pierce - Bringing Out The Dead (1999)
What is the point of life? Is there meaning in death? What if everyone stopped caring? These are the sorts of obsessive pontifications filling Frank Pierce's head in Bringing out the Dead, the Martin Scorcese-directed drama about a burnt-out paramedic trying to keep hold of his sanity over three days surrounded by death in New York City.
With Cage's dulcet narration as Pierce washing over the action like an ASMR tidal wave, fans go on an incredible journey into a reality they may never get to experience, possibly emerging with a newfound appreciation for being above ground. If Renfield touches even slightly on the topics of life, death, and anything in between, Cage will be all too familiar.
Castor Troy - Face/Off (1997)
As ridiculous as the plot of Face/Off is, fault cannot be found with Cage's inspired portrayal of iconic villain Castor Troy, a kingpin whose face is swapped with a federal agent's in order to gather vital intelligence from within a maximum-security prison. From his gold-plated pistols and his Versace suits to his mockery of all religious and federal authority, Troy is a master class in hedonism, and responsible for some of the best Nicolas Cage movie quotes.
If Renfield features a theatrical Dracula whose confidence borders on arrogance, whose vanity borders on preening, and for whom all of life's pleasures are part of a banquet to be devoured, then Cage needs only to channel this eccentric baddie.
Red Miller
Mandy (2018)
Mandy is a movie so unhinged, carnal, and artistic that it could only be made with a star willing to go to the highest heights of interpretive arthouse horror to bring it to life. As Red Miller, a man hellbent on getting revenge for his wife's kidnapping at the hands of a malicious cult, Cage is the only person who could make the movie's ultra-violent plot make sense.
One of the more frightening and gory horror movies starring Cage, it won't be to everyone's taste, but it shows the lengths Cage is willing to go to as an actor in any genre, including grindhouse.
Brent Ryan - Mom And Dad (2017)
If fans ever wanted to know whether or not Nicolas Cage would survive a zombie apocalypse, they needn't look any further than Mom and Dad, an undead dark comedy in the same category as Zombieland or Shaun of the Dead. A viral outbreak turns parents (including Cage) into zombies, and confused teens must spend 24 hours fighting for their lives.
Given that Renfield is supposed to be a vampire horror-comedy like Dracula Dead And Loving It, watching Cage tackle the material here with such zeal gives an indication of how game he'll be to make his Dracula fit with the theme — especially if like this movie, Renfield spoofs something like capitalism, the education system, or the American dream.
Behmen - Season of the Witch (2011)
Cage goes full Game of Thrones as a Templar Knight in Season of the Witch, teaming up with a glowering Ron Perlman to deliver a young woman to a distant abbey on the orders of a dying cardinal. Feared by the church to be a witch, monks must find a way to exorcise the demon from within her or destroy her in the attempt.
Navigating heavy religious symbolism, Old World lore, and period costuming like a champ, Cage chews the medieval scenery as a solemn crusader on one last quest to prove his worth. It's not too hard to picture Cage in the same setting playing Dracula's inspiration, Vlad the Impaler.
Ben Sanderson - Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
In the role that won him the Academy Award for Best Actor, Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a man with nothing left to lose who goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death. Though he finds love and a smidgeon of happiness in Sin City, it isn't quite enough to pull him back from the brink of despair.
Leaving Las Vegas is a despondent movie, but there are glimpses of the best of humanity in it, and to watch Cage wrestle with addiction is to watch a person try to conquer their inner demons not for themselves, but for the person who saw them at their worst and loved them anyway. The contemplations Sanderson has are the sort of deep thoughts that probably keep Dracula up at night.