Ahead of his turn as iconic bloodsucker Dracula in Renfield, Nicolas Cage reveals the one other Universal Classic Monster he wants to play. Cage will star in the upcoming horror-comedy, which centers on Nicholas Hoult's eponymous servant of Dracula as he attempts to break free from his suffering after having fallen in love with a New Orleans traffic cop. Based on a story treatment from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and script from Rick and Morty alum Ryan Ridley, Renfield is already drumming up positive reviews following it festival debut.
In honor of the film's upcoming release, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with Nicolas Cage to discuss Renfield. When asked about his interest in playing another Universal Classic Monster, Cage looked to the Wolf Man, noting the similarity of the part to another iconic role of his, but feeling it to be one that's "powerfully tragic" and right up his alley. See what Cage shared below:
I kind of did it with Ghost Rider. But I think the Wolf Man. Yeah. The Wolf Man is the scariest and I think just powerfully tragic. But I think it's been done many times, I don't think we're making Wolf Man movies anymore. But for what I would like to explore, that works for me.
Nic Cage Is The Perfect Monster Movie Actor
Cage's casting as Dracula in Renfield has been one of the biggest points of anticipation for the horror-comedy. The Oscar winner has shared the range of inspirations he pulled from to bring the iconic bloodsucker to life, including Christopher Lee's Dracula performances from the Hammer-produced movies, as well as David Bowie and his own father, August Coppola. While he has explored playing a vampire before with Vampire's Kiss, Cage is properly separating the two performances in the differences of tones.
Having now played monsters in a variety of genres, Cage has truly shown himself to be the perfect modern monster movie actor, understanding the mentality behind the characters rather than strictly leaning into the supernatural aspect of the figure. As Cage notes above, his turn as Ghost Rider in the eponymous Marvel movie tapped into some of the tragedy of the isolation both he and the Wolf Man suffer from, and while the Ghost Rider movies may have scored low with critics, his performance in both garnered positive reviews.
Though Cage may be interested in playing the Wolf Man after Renfield's Dracula, he will have to get in line. Ryan Gosling has been lined up to play a new version of the Universal Classic Monster since early 2020, having pitched the idea while passing off the reins for someone else to direct, first being Leigh Whannell and later The Place Beyond the Pines' Derek Cianfrance. But with multiple Dracula adaptations in various stages of development and production, there's room for multiple Wolf Man projects to work alongside each other and give Cage his dream.
