Brandon Scott Jones on Working ‘Vampire Hours’ for ‘Renfield,’ Acting Alongside Nicolas Cage, and Taking High School Theater Way Too Seriously

The cast of Ghosts gathered up for a big group shot at the Emmy FYC Screening held at DGA in Los Angeles on Sunday night (April 30).

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nicholas Hoult recently made headlines for revealing he lost roles in “The Batman,” “Mission: Impossible 7” and “Top Gun: Maverick” all in a row, but that’s nothing compared to the handful of A-list projects Rachel McAdams consecutively turned down. As revealed in her new Bustle profile, McAdams turned down offers for “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Casino Royale,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Iron Man” and “Get Smart” in the two-year period where she moved back to Canada following a rise in Hollywood with “Mean Girls,” “The Notebook” and more. “There’s certainly things like ‘I wish I’d done that,’” McAdams said. “[But] I step back and go, ‘That was the right person for that.’”

Nicolas Cage went the extra mile for his role in "Vampire’s Kiss" by eating bugs. The iconic Hollywood actor reflected on when he ate several cockroaches for the 1988 cult movie during an interview for his latest role as Count Dracula in "Renfield." "Oh yeah, I ate it twice, because the director did it just to prank me," Cage, 59, told Yahoo! Entertainment. "I'm not one to give advice, but [Nicholas Hoult] ate a potato bug, so he took it to another level." His "Renfield" co-star Nicholas Hoult, 33, responded, "The cockroach is worse than a potato bug I think … the cockroaches I got to eat in this were caramel." While discussing their new vampire horror-comedy, both actors continued to debate which insects were worst to eat on set.  "Oh, but he ate a real potato bug, which is terrifying to me and so are cockroaches.

Vampire’s Kiss, telling Yahoo Entertainment that he’ll “never do that again”.Vampire’s Kiss stars Cage as publishing executive Peter Loew, who thinks he’s turning into a vampire. In the scene in question, Loew picks up a cockroach that is scuttling across the cooker in his apartment and then eats it whole for breakfast. The film’s script originally called for Cage to swallow a raw egg instead, but Cage insisted it be a cockroach.“I saw it as a business decision because when people see the cockroach go in my mouth… [they] really react,” he said during the film’s DVD commentary track.In another recent interview with Mediacorp, Cage reflected further on his bug-eating days.

“Renfield” star told Yahoo Entertainment of his regrets. “I’m sorry I did it at all.”Cage claimed on the film’s DVD commentary track that he was the one that begged for the live insects, as the original script allegedly called for Cage to simply swallow a raw egg. “I saw it as a business decision because when people see the cockroach go in my mouth … [they] really react,” he reportedly said.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Nicolas Cage will not be eating cockroaches on camera ever again. The Oscar winner recently told Yahoo Entertainment that eating two cockroaches on camera during the making of his 1988 comedy “Vampire’s Kiss” remains a career regret. “I’ll never do that again,” Cage said. “I’m sorry I did it at all.” “Vampire’s Kiss” stars Cage as a literary critic who becomes convinced he is a vampire. The film’s script originally called for the actor to swallow a raw egg, but Cage insisted it be a cockroach instead. As he said on the film’s DVD commentary track: “I saw it as a business decision because when people see the cockroach go in my mouth…[they] really react.”

Ghost co-showrunners Joe Wiseman and Joe Port and stars Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar joined Deadline’s Contenders TV event to talk about conspiracy theories, Samantha and Jay’s relationship, and what’s next for Season 3.

Dracula, where he’s been memorably portrayed by greats like Alexander Granach (in 1922’s silent Nosferatu), Dwight Frye (as a wide-eyed madman in 1931’s Dracula), and Tom Waits (chewing the scenery, and bugs, in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Renfield is perpetually overshadowed by the blood-sucking count.Universal’s new Renfield (★★☆☆☆), a big-budget spinoff of the Dracula story, set in present-day New Orleans, promises to give the character his overdue shine. Unfortunately, the film is an overcooked clash of genre and tepid grasps at modernization, whose greatest asset is — you guessed it — Dracula himself, played by a glammed-up, fang-gnashing Nicolas Cage.

The acting life isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice for the part. Submitted for your approval is one Nicolas Cage, who has revealed a major regret captured on film while out promoting his current horror comedy, Renfield, which features Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as the title servant, R.M. Renfield.

Clint Eastwood is getting back in the director’s chair.

Tom Cruise was denied by Nicholas Hoult when the star offered him a role in "Mission: Impossible 7." Hoult explained that due to a prior work commitment, he was not able to appear alongside Cruise in the upcoming two-part "Mission: Impossible" finale. The seventh installment in the franchise, "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One," is set for release this summer.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor This article first appeared as part of Jenelle Riley’s Acting Up newsletter – to subscribe for early content and weekly updates on all things acting, visit the Acting Up signup page. Sometimes, you find startling accuracy in the most unlikely places. Codependency and toxic relationships have long been fodder for film and television, but lately there’s been a batch of quality entertainment that does an excellent job of depicting the reality of an unhealthy relationship — and the struggle to break free from one. Surprisingly, it’s comedic entertainment that seems to be doing it best as of late. Take the first season of the Apple TV+ comedy “Shrinking,” which depicts a therapist (Jason Segel) trying to help a client (Heidi Gardner) break up with her verbally and emotionally abusive husband. It’s a character arc that rings only too true, expertly captured by “Saturday Night Live” breakout Gardner. Over on HBO Max, the animated series “Harley Quinn” has spent three seasons showing how its titular character starts a new life out from under the shadow of the ultimate toxic boyfriend, the Joker. While it’s a fantastical story that uses heroes and villains with superpowers, the metaphor is apt — Harley Quinn has no identity outside of her famous paramour and has to rebuild her life, and self-worth, on her own.

Angelique Jackson Legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood is closing in on his next project, with plans to direct “Juror No. 2.” The legal drama is set up at Warner Bros., with Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette circling the lead roles. Eastwood will direct and produce the project alongside Adam Goodman, Tim Moore and Jessica Meier. Jonathan Abrams penned the script. “Juror No. 2” will take place during a murder trial and follows a juror (Hoult), who realizes that he may have caused the victim’s death. He must decide whether to manipulate the jury to save himself, or reveal the truth and turn himself in. Collette would play the prosecutor. Warner Bros. is nearing a green light on the project, with a production start eyed for June, following Eastwood’s 93rd birthday on May 31.

British actor Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”) is no stranger to studio blockbusters playing a young version of Beast in the popular “X-Men” franchise and had a standout but one-off role in George Miller’s acclaimed “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Hoult, doing press rounds to promote “Renfield,” is now speaking to The Guardian (via Variety) about his recent run of high-profile acting opportunities that he’s missed out on.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When director Chris McKay was making “Renfield” he turned to production designer Alec Hammond (“Donnie Darko”) to help deliver a fresh and updated take on the Dracula story, by taking “a big monster movie, rooting it in the classic movies, but subverting any expectations.” The film starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his faithful sidekick Renfield, begins in 1931, in black-and-white. It was important, Hammond says, to set up Cage’s world in the historic context of harkening back to classic Dracula movies before jumping to the present day. The Charity Hospital in New Orleans, which had been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina, was the perfect location for Hammond to set Dracula and Renfield’s modern-day lair.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director What’s it like turning down Tom Cruise? Just ask Nicholas Hoult. In a new interview with The Guardian, the “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Menu” star revealed that Cruise personally called him to join the “Mission: Impossible” franchise for its two-part finale, which will kick off this summer with the seventh installment, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” Hoult accepted the role, which reports claimed was a huge one as it was the finale’s main villain. Hoult was cast in “Mission: Impossible 7” in January 2020, but by May 2020 he was exiting the movie and being replaced by Esai Morales. According to Hoult, his contractual obligation to his Hulu period comedy “The Great” got in the way of him joining the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been such a gut-punch had Hoult not been coming off two rejections from other major Hollywood franchises.

Stuck in a movie theater seat watching “Renfield” plod along, the answer is a resounding meh.As the Count from “Sesame Street” would say, “‘Renfield’ gets TWO stars! Ah, ah, ah.”Cage — whose career has become so goofy he recently played a parody version of himself who gets kidnapped by a Spanish drug lord — is as funny and self-aware as the evil old vampire. Crazy, it would seem, has become Cage’s new normal. But don’t come looking for a wacky sendup of the story in the vein of Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein.” It’s actually not even as hilarious as that director’s much-worse 1995 movie “Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” and outside of a few basic details the film has little to do with Bram Stoker’s book.“Renfield,” directed by Chris McKay, has more in common with the (far better) “Zombieland” series, with high-body-count action sequences, quick-cut comedy and an unlikely, socially awkward hero. That would be Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), Count Dracula’s beleaguered “familiar,” who has been gifted an unnaturally long life in exchange for bringing the vamp fresh victims.

“Renfield,” an outrageous new take on Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” told from the point of view of the count’s perpetually put-upon manservant (played here by Nicholas Hoult), the notion of being too over-the-top is considered and then hastily breezed by. In the opening sequence alone, an ancient curse is placed on the dark prince (played, with much scenery-chewing, by Nicolas Cage); when Dracula is freed he turns into a vaporous mist and explodes a priest from the inside. Then Dracula catches on fire and is turned into a crispy skeleton.The sequence is telling both for its bold tonal shifts and for the manic approach to action.

Few characters manage the passage of time quite like Dracula. From the character’s iconic beginnings as a Universal Studios monster to more recent attempts to craft a shared universe, Dracula adaptations often offer the clearest reflection of both the film industry and broader societal trends.

is less than a month away from its season 3 launch and Hulu dropped the official trailer on Wednesday to whet everyone's appetite before May 12.Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are back as the firecracker duo, Catherine the Great and Peter III of Russia, and as the trailer tees up, all is very much well between the married couple.Season 3, according to Hulu, will follow the pair as they attempt to make their marriage work following many coup attempts and fights for power over their kingdom. Not only has Peter witnessed Catherine's attempt to murder him, she's also imprisoned all his supporters as she continues her reign. But despite all the distractions at hand -- fathering, hunting and «salty culinary ventures» -- it's not enough to keep Peter from being plagued by visions of his late father (Jason Isaacs), who gets in his head about failing to live up to his grandfather, Peter the Great. Catherine, meanwhile, starts to make a name for herself beyond her country's borders while also taking inspiration from a recent visit by a U.S.