Nic Cage’s Dracula was inspired by Anne Bancroft in ‘The Graduate,’ according to Nicholas Hoult
By Thomas Page, CNN
Think Dracula and the cape, the fangs and bloodlust come to mind. On screen, perhaps the image of Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee or Gary Oldman.
Nic Cage thought Dracula and saw Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate.”
That’s according to Nicholas Hoult, who plays the titular servant to Dracula in “Renfield,” a new take on Bram Stoker’s characters.
Bancroft’s turn as Mrs. Robinson, a mother seducing her daughter’s boyfriend in Mike Nichols’ iconic 1967 film, is not the most obvious inspiration for the vampire aristocrat, but then Cage is not an obvious actor.
“I don’t think it gets more iconic than Nic Cage playing Dracula,” Hoult told CNN. “He’s having so much fun with the role, bringing so much inspiration from previous movies, from the book, but also from unexpected places like ‘The Graduate’ and Anne Bancroft.”
“It was a true joy for me to be in those scenes and those moments,” he added, “because I just picked up on that energy and tried to run with it.”
Set in New Orleans in the present day, “Renfield” reinterprets Dracula and Renfield’s vampire-familiar bond as a toxic relationship from which Hoult’s character is trying to escape, enrolling in a self-help group.
“When we first meet him in this movie he’s worked for about 100 years for Dracula, who is the most narcissistic, horrendous boss imaginable,” Hoult explained.
“I thought this was just such an original, new, fresh take,” he added. “The story around that destructive relationship and how they work together I thought was a very fun idea.”
Cage’s operatic take on the Count isn’t even his most outrageous performance as a bloodsucker (that would be his iconic turn in “Vampire’s Kiss”) but it’s hard to forget. Dracula is a character that requires an actor to go big or go home — and with good reason. With over 100 Dracula films to date, it takes a lot to cut through the noise.
Why then is he a character filmmakers and audiences keep coming back to?
“Nic Cage describes this idea of love in exile, and Dracula being someone who’s in extreme pain, because he has to watch everyone that he loves die,” said Hoult. “So, he’s quite a lonely character. I think there’s something quite romantic about the tale, in some ways.”
“Renfield” is released in US and UK cinemas on April 14.
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