Raise your hand if you’ve had a narcissist boss!
Today history’s most notorious egomaniac hits the big screen in Renfield. Nicolas Cage is The Princess of Darkness and Nicholas Hoult is his interdependent underling, R. M. Renfield.
In this vampire tale Ben Schwartz (Sonic, The Afterparty) plays an eager crime lord and Dracula’s new hire. We chatted with Stewart about Cage, cops and cocaine.
Q: In this film, Renfield doesn’t get to choose his assistant position but if you could choose to be anyone’s assistant, who would you pick and why?
BS: I wouldn’t want someone who’s hard to work for. I want someone that I want to hang out with. It’d be real fun to be Meryl Streep’s assistant. I think she just has fun stories. It’d just be fun to watch her act all day. [From my cast I’d] be Nicholas Cages’ assistant. We could just hang out all day. He’s the best.
(from left) Tedward Lobo (Benjamin Schwartz) and Dracula (Nicolas Cage) in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. © 2023 Universal Studios. All Rights
Q: How many times did you go off script?
BS: Ryan Ridley is an incredible comedic writer. [The team] let me play quite a bit when I was on set. I’m playing this bad guy, which I don’t really get to play very often. He’s unhinged and he’s on drugs. So for me to play someone who’s so out of control was so fun. There’s a couple of scenes where I really got to go crazy.
I get out of my car after an accident. I’m running. I’m starting to throw cocaine at the cops. They just kept the camera running, and I ran. I got in people’s cars and talk to them and then I kept running. It was a huge day of me improvising forever.
[Another scene Cage] is choking me and he goes, ‘who are you?’ And when I try to explain to him that I’m evil, there are takes where I explain a laundry list of evil things I’ve done.
(from left) Henry (Benjamin Schwartz) and Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay. © 2023 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. All Rights Reserved.
Renfield also stars Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men franchise), Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina (The Farewell, Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings), Adrian Martinez (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Focus) and Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam, House of Sand and Fog). And is directed by Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The LEGO Batman Movie); based on an original idea by The Walking Dead and Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.
#RenfieldMovie will be in theaters April 14.
For Ben’s full interview click the video above.
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