Nicolas Cage has done a lot for nearly as many roles, like eating live cockroaches in Vampire’s Kiss, facing off against a snake in Joe and hiring a “personal drinking coach” for Leaving Las Vegas. But going full method acting isn’t exactly Nicolas Cage’s bag, even if his most recent director thinks so.
At the premiere of his latest movie, Renfield (which hits theaters on April 14th), Nicolas Cage was asked if he actually utilized method acting for his turn as Count Dracula, something director Chris McKay said was true. “I just don’t have that recollection, I don’t know why Chris said that,” said Cage. “I had a lot of laughs in between takes with both Chris McKay and Nick Hoult, so maybe that was his experience, maybe because I still had the fangs in my mouth that made me speak a certain way, but that wasn’t my experience.”
While Nicolas Cage isn’t generally known as a method actor, some of his approaches do feel within that spectrum. Instead, Cage practices what he calls “nouveau shamanism”, which he has previously spoken of: “The process itself is about: How do you augment your imagination in a healthy way? So that you can believe you’re these characters.”
On the topic of method acting (an approach that can irk many…), some of his Nicolas Cage’s co-stars seem to be a little in the middle as far as his style. Co-star Ben Schwartz said. “He’s in there, and when he’s Dracula, he’s so in the zone, and he gets himself pumped up and it’s just like you’re acting with Dracula…And the best part is when they say ‘Cut,’ you’re just standing next to Dracula hanging out afterwards being like, ‘So I loved Adaptation.’ So it’s very fun.”
But Nicolas Cage had his own interpretation of the legendary Count Dracula character, seemingly none of which had to do with method acting. “With this Dracula, I was trying to fuse that which is scary and humorous even at the same time in the line delivery…It was just how can you be creepy and funny at the same time, that was the challenge.”
How do you feel about method acting, especially when it pertains to roles like Nicolas Cage’s in Renfield? Give your take below!