According to what was revealed by Deadline, Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) has joined the cast of Renfield, the new film from Universal Pictures.
The Iranian actress will join the already confirmed Nicolas Cage (Mandy, Willy's Wonderland), Awkwafina, Adrian Martinez, Ben Schwartz and Nicholas Hoult (Warm Bodies, Mad Max: Fury Road).
The film will be a modern-day reinterpretation of the character Renfield featured in Dracula by Bram Stoker and will star Nicholas Hoult, here as Dracula's servant.
It was directed by Chris McKay, the director of Tomorrow's war and some animated genre films while the screenplay is by Ryan Ridley (Rick and Morty) in collaboration with Robert Kirkman, the creator of the TV series The Walking Dead.
Finally, Chris Pratt figures in the project as a producer.
Plot: after centuries, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) has grown tired of being Dracula's (Nicolas Cage) lackey. The henchman finds a new lease on life and perhaps even redemption when he falls in love with the feisty and perpetually angry policewoman Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina).
In Bram Stoker's novel, R. M. Renfield is a 60-year-old man admitted to Dr. Seward's asylum who, convinced he is living longer, compulsively feeds on insects and animals. The patient has a submissive bond with Count Dracula, whom he calls Lord.
In the various film adaptations, the cause of his madness was caused by Dracula while in Bram Stoker's novel, the man is already insane before he meets him.
Recall that the role of Renfield was played by Dwight Frye in Dracula (1931) with Bela Lugosi and by Tom Waits in Dracula by Bram Stoker with Gary Oldman.
