Nicolas Cage channeled Andy Warhol for ‘pop-art’ Dracula

Nicolas Cage plays a “pop-art” Dracula in ‘Renfield’.

The 58-year-old actor stars as the vampire in Chris McKay’s upcoming horror-comedy film and revealed that he drew inspiration from the iconic artist Andy Warhol for his performance.

Nicolas told Empire magazine: “When I got a sense of where McKay wanted to go, I realised the movie has a comedic, pop art attitude.

“So I thought: ‘This will be a pop-art Dracula.’ Warhol did a great black-on-black Dracula. This is in that Warhol vein.”

Cage explained how he watched the classic vampire film ‘Nosferatu’ to help him bring Count Dracula to life in the new movie, which also stars Nicholas Hoult and Awkwafina and is slated for release in April 2023.

The ‘Face/Off’ actor explained: “I noticed all these little gestures that are, by today’s standards, ‘over the top’.

“When Max Schreck does that (snaps his wrist and extends his fingers) and puffs into smoke, I was like, ‘What is that? Is it dance? What is he conveying there?’

“I said to Chris McKay that I really wanted to find a place to put that in ‘Renfield’. I haven’t seen the movie so I don’t know if they kept it, but I tried.”

Nicolas added: “It’s a largely studio picture so I wanted to play with: ‘What can I get away with here?’ If you’re playing Dracula, you have a lot of latitude.”

Hoult plays the title role of Dracula’s servant in the film and says that working together with Cage was one of his most enjoyable experiences as an actor.

He said: “Being in the same room with Nic Cage, I mean that’s a trip.

“But being in the same room as Nic Cage whilst he’s dressed as Dracula and tormenting you as Dracula and you’re his servant is really some of the most fun I’ve ever had onscreen whilst being tortured. It’s really brilliant.”