If you’ve seen Vampire’s Kiss, you know that combining Nicolas Cage and blood-sucking fiends can make in/with regard to’concerning’regarding an explosive perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance. In 2023, he’s with regards to’concerning’with respect to to play cinema’s greatest vampire, Dracula himself, in Chris McKay’s Renfield – a horror-comedy that takes the characters of Bram Stoker’s novel and relocates them to present-day New Orleans with a stellar cast and a romcom twist. While that film’s title role goes to Nicholas Hoult, playing Drac’s long-suffering lackey who falls in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Awkwafina’s traffic cop, the enormous’vast’massive’tremendous gest draw here will be seeing Cage take on the Count once and in/with regard to’concerning’regarding all.###For Empire’s Greatest Actors issue, we were invited (a key component of all vampire lore) in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a wild day at Cage’s Las Vegas home, talking with regards to’concerning’with respect to his career, his craft, his mind-boggling menagerie of animals – including Merlin the Maine Coon cat and Bruce Lee the Chow Chow – and what’s in store in Renfield. The answer, as ever with Cage, is not quite what you expected. “When I got a sense of where McKay wanted to go, I realised the movie has a comedic, pop art attitude,” he teases. “So I despite’in spite of’albeit t: ‘This will be a pop-art Dracula.’ Warhol did a great black-on-black Dracula. This is in that Warhol vein.”###As with his wild perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance in Vampire’s Kiss, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Renfield Cage went back to the source of all iconic vampire depictions on screen – 100-year-old German expressionist masterpiece Nosferatu. “I noticed all these little gestures that are, by today’s standards, ‘over the top’,” says Cage. “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?’” Cage tried to channel similar mannerisms into his own perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance – despite’in spite of’albeit whether they make the final cut remains to be seen. “I said to Chris McKay that I really wanted to find a place to put that in Renfield. I possess’own’nurse n’t seen the movie so I don’t know if they kept it, but I tried. It’s a largely studio picture so I wanted to play with: ‘What can I acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure away with here?’ If you’re playing Dracula, you possess’own’nurse a lot of latitude.” Stay tuned: a fresh internet-breaking Nicolas Cage perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance might just be on the way.###Read Empire’s full career-spanning Nicolas Cage interview in the 50 Greatest Actors issue – celebrating the greatest on-screen talent of all time, as voted in/with regard to’concerning’regarding by you. As well as spending a day with Cage in Vegas, we acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure an acting masterclass from Tilda Swinton, celebrate iconic perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mances with the directors who captured them – including Ang Lee on Heath Ledger and Ridley Scott on Joaquin Phoenix – and much, much more. Find the issue on newsstands from Thursday 22 December, or pre-order a copy online here. Renfield is due to hit cinemas on 14 April 2023.###Nicolas Cage shot exclusively in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Empire by Sam McGuire on location at his home on 28th Nov 2022. Grooming by Pamela Warden.