During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Nicolas Cage declared he is “a goth” while talking about his pet crow named Hoogan. Cage also discussed getting to play Dracula in Universal Pictures’ upcoming horror-comedy Renfield.
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When talking about his crow, who lives inside of a geodesic dome at the actor’s Las Vegas home, and proclaiming to be a goth, Cage said: “He has taken to calling me names … it’s comical, at least, it is to me. When I leave the room, he’ll say, ‘Bye,’ and then go, ‘A–.’ Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth.”
Speaking on playing the character of Dracula, Cage added that “the key” is “movement.” The actor shared that he watched James Wan’s Malignant, starring Annabelle Wallis, and remarked that the choreography “was terrifying.”
“So I’m hoping to do something like that where Dracula can either glide or move like Sadako in Ringu,” said Cage.
Cage also shared with the outlet that he enjoyed other performers who have taken on the iconic vampire, namely Bela Lugosi in 1931’s Dracula, Frank Langella in 1979’s Dracula, and Gary Oldman in Cage’s uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Cage added that he told his “Uncle Francy” that “every frame of that movie is a work of art.”
Renfield will also star Nicholas Hoult as the titular character in the film, which will be directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War), with a script based on an original story outline from Robert Kirkman, who co-created The Walking Dead, Invincible, and many other comics for Image Comics. Ben Schwartz and Awkwafina will also star in the movie.
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In the original Dracula novel, R.M. Renfield was a servant of Dracula who is introduced as an inmate at a mental asylum. Initially thought to be suffering from delusions, it is later revealed that he is under the control of Dracula. It’s currently unclear how much of the original source material the upcoming film will draw from, but Deadline did report that the film is believed to be set in the “present day,” and will not be a period piece.
