Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Dracula adaptation has been in the headlines recently after fans hoped that Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder remain legally married, after the actor addressed the theories that the two may have legitimately tied the knot for real during shooting on the lavish fantasy almost 30 years ago.
As chance would have it, another star of the three-time Academy Award winner recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his life and career, where he revealed another bizarre behind the scenes tidbit. Cary Elwes played the foppish Lord Arthur Holmwood in the movie, and he claimed that Gary Oldman got so into character to play the lead that he’d not only distance himself from the rest of the ensemble, but sleep in a coffin for added authenticity.
“We all stayed in the guest houses on the property. Francis believes that the more time the cast spends together that will translate onscreen. So he had all the vampire hunters live on one property and poor Gary had to live by himself. Gary was sleeping in a coffin every night, that was how seriously he took it. He was sequestered from us all — by choice. So we met him for the first time on set during rehearsals and then we’d never see him again.”
Oldman is one of the best actors in the business that’s just as capable of delivering an acclaimed performance in a hard-hitting prestige drama as he is hamming it up as the villain in action movie, but his take on Vlad the Impaler remains one of the most outwardly animalistic and sexually-charged portrayals of the iconic vampire we’ve ever seen.
Once he sheds the old age makeup and restores himself to youth, Oldman smolders his way through Dracula, which is all the more impressive when you now have to take his sleeping arrangements into consideration.
Published: Nov 27, 2021 05:47 am