Ready or Not meets Get Out meets Harry & Meghan. And we’re not considering the acting only: We look at how each performer developed the count as a character in his own right, how their interpretation keeps this classic story fresh, and what they added to the Dracula lore.
We’ve put together a high-stakes assembly of some of Dracula’s good, bad, and just okay screen appearances. What makes a Dracula performance great is how convincingly an actor can navigate this line while bringing the undead to life and avoiding plastic-fang hysterics. Is Dracula a man moonlighting as a monster, or is he a monster who must pretend to be a man? Every adaptation of the novel has to wrestle with that dichotomy. When playing Dracula, an actor has to decide where the mask is - something he has in common with an actor playing Batman, fittingly. The quintessential vampire is instantly recognizable not just from his jet-black widow’s peak, association with bats, and black-and-red cape, but also from his well-mannered nature and unique powers of hypnosis and seduction. Though each adaptation takes liberties with Stoker’s characters - Dracula’s victims Lucy and Mina often swap places, and the extensive cast of love interests and allies is usually simplified - most of the count’s attributes have stayed the same. Created by Bram Stoker in his 1897 gothic novel, the eponymous Dracula has survived continual reinventions on stage and screen.
Nicolas Cage may be the most recent to don the fangs, in Renfield, but he joins a long line of actors who have taken on the iconic role of Count Dracula. Photo-Illustration: Vulture Photos: Columbia Pictures, Embassy Pictures, Universal Pictures, Vulture
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