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Nicolas Cage Proclaims ‘I Am a Goth’ Ahead of Playing Dracula, Says His Pet Crow Insults Him

Nicolas Cage once played a man who is convinced he is a vampire (1989’s “Vampire’s Kiss”), but he’s about to go full bloodsucker as Dracula in Universal’s upcoming horror movie “Renfield.” Most moviegoers probably don’t need convincing that he has what it takes to transform into the most iconic vampire in film history, but rest assured that Cage lives a goth lifestyle off camera. The actor said as much in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, revealing he even owns a black crow as a pet.

Cage’s pet crow is named Hoogan and lives in the actor’s Las Vegas home inside a geodesic dome. According to Cage, “He has taken to calling me names…it’s comical, at least, it is to me. When I leave the room, he’ll say, ‘Bye,’ and then go, ‘Ass.’ Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth.”

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This side of Cage’s personality can partly explain why the role of Dracula in “Renfield” might’ve attracted the Oscar winner. Cage also said that watching James Wan’s horror movie “Malignant” last year made playing a vampire and starring in a horror movie all the more appealing.

“The key, I think, is movement,” Cage said, “I saw a movie called ‘Malignant’ and the director James Wan and the actress [Annabelle Wallis] created this choreography that was terrifying. So I’m hoping to do something like that where Dracula can either glide or move like Sadako in ‘Ringu.’”

Cage is set to star in “Renfield” opposite Nicholas Hoult in the title role. Chris McKay, the filmmaker behind “The Tomorrow War” and “The Lego Batman Movie,” is directing and producing “Renfield” from a screenplay by “Rick and Morty” scribe Ryan Ridley. The upcoming film is expected to take place in the present day. It’s not clear how much it will stick to the source material, Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror novel “Dracula.”

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