Lately, there has been a lot of talk about method acting, what it is, and why everyone seems to be all frazzled by it. There are many different types of acting styles from the Jeremy Strong-type, to the “send your co-stars a series of disturbing packages” type that Jared Leto is so used to. But then there is Nic Cage.
Cage has been in over 100 movies throughout his very diverse career, even playing himself at one point, so he’s not one to just phone it in. His latest film Renfield follows Cage as Dracula, who is accompanied by his long-time servant Renfield, who is trying to make his own way in the vampire world. In order to really stay in the zone, director Chris Mckay said that Cage was always on point as Dracula, even when the cameras weren’t rolling.
McKay told Insider, “Whatever scene we did, [Cage] would still be 100% living in that attitude after we stopped shooting,” the director explained, adding that Cage’s character was often present in between shoots. “So if he’s a little frosty in the scene he’s going to have a little bit of that between takes. But still up for whatever we were doing.” What do you think a “frosty” Nic Cage would be like?! Probably something like this.
It might seem a little stressful to have Dracula breathing down your neck all day, but McKay said that it was more of a logistical choice than a methodic one. “You also have to remember, he’s covered head to toe in Dracula makeup and costume, so it’s a different thing,” McKay said. “Sometimes he couldn’t even bend his body very much because he’s got a whole body appliance on. So he’s Dracula whether he wants to be Dracula or not.” He opted to be Dracula a lot, it seems.
Cage even said he would be open to revisiting the character after Renfield debuts. As long as his method of acting doesn’t involve actually drinking people’s blood, it should be fine.
