Nicolas Cage is well-known for his method acting, but in his next role as Dracula in the film Renfield, he took things to a whole new level.
The 59-year-old Hollywood star once defined his acting technique as “nouveau shamanism” and is renowned for his unorthodox parts and behaviour on set.
While preparing for the part of the renowned vampire in Renfield, the Face/Off star embodied his interpretation of Dracula in several ways.
In a recent interview, Cage said that as he was attempting to polish the ‘beautiful and eloquent’ voice of his character, he discovered an unconventional method for mastering the accent.
‘I was trying to give the character an eloquent and elegant voice that was pretty hard to do with all the ceramic material in my mouth,’ he told The Sun newspaper.
‘But I got used to it by taking them home, leaving them in when I was in my hotel room.’
Cage, who has appeared in more than 100 films, went on to discuss his influences for the part, including Sir Christopher Lee, who portrayed Bram Stoker’s renowned character earlier.
‘You have this character with long fingers and nails, a creepy bald head, and rodent-like face, moving in very strange ways. It terrified me,’ he said.
He then spoke about the’super-talented folks’ who helped develop his character’s appearance.
‘We wanted it to be more homage, more Christopher Lee. I favoured Christopher Lee as Dracula and I liked his kind of sixties hairdo, but the wardrobe, the costume, and no, I didn’t come up with the idea for the rings.
‘That all came out of a wardrobe. They came in with all that. Maybe they sense something in me that I would like that, but that was really their contribution.’
Renfield will also include Nicholas Hoult as the film’s title character, as well as Awkwafina as Rebecca Quincy, in addition to Nicolas Cage as the bloodsucker.
Renfield has finally reached his limit after generations of service, in which he is obliged to obtain his master’s prey and carry out his every command, no matter how vile.
Renfield, desperate to explore whether there is a life beyond The Prince of Darkness’s shadow, begins to find out how to break his codependence.
Renfield is set to release in cinemas on April 14, 2023.
