Nicolas Cage Blames False Teeth for 'Frosty' Behavior on 'Renfield' Set

Nicolas Cage has said that his prosthetic teeth may have been to blame amid accusations he was a tad "frosty" on the set of Renfield.

The Face/Off actor, 59, stars as Dracula in the horror-comedy, which is a film adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic novel. The movie follows the "toxic and co-dependent relationship" between Dracula and his titular henchman, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult.

In an interview recently published by Insider, Renfield director Chris McKay said that the method-acting Cage was so committed to his role that he would stay in character after cameras had stopped rolling.

"Whatever scene we did, he would still be 100 percent living in that attitude after we stopped shooting," McKay said. "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."

However, when Cage attended the New York City premiere of the film on Tuesday, he told The Hollywood Reporter (THR) that his memory of the events differed. He also said that his prosthetic fangs could well have been to blame.

"I just don't have that recollection. I don't know why Chris said that," Cage explained. "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."

Elsewhere in his interview, McKay said that there were moments when he would engage with Cage in a "real conversation" rehearsing a scene, only to be faced with the actor not breaking character as Dracula.

"But 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."

This is not the first time it has been claimed that Cage temporarily morphed into his characters. Actress Wendi McLendon-Covey told Insider in 2016 that Cage was deeply entrenched in his character for their movie Army of One.

McLendon-Covey spoke about her time on set with Cage as he portrayed a man who attempts to hunt down Osama bin Laden with just a samurai sword. She told the outlet: "I can't say that I've met Nicolas Cage."

Renfield served as something of a reunion for Cage and Hoult, who had worked together on the 2005 comedy-drama The Weather Man.

Hoult, who was aged 14 when he worked on that film, told THR: "I think getting to work with him again as an adult gave me a true appreciation of what a master he is of the craft, how much he's given to the cinematic world over the years, all of the iconic performances he's given, and I think this is another one."

The British-born actor, 33, added that, when he read the Renfield script, "I was like, 'Oh, this feels very different. It's a swing, but if it works, then I think we have a fun movie.'"

Renfield will be released in theaters on April 14, 2023.