Renfield star Ben Schwartz picks his favorite movie villains
Universal Pictures(from left) Tedward Lobo (Benjamin Schwartz) and Dracula (Nicolas Cage) in Renfield, directed by Chris McKay.
Ben Schwartz plays the bad guy in new horror-comedy Renfield, so we asked the actor to pick his favorite ever movie villains.
Renfield stars Nicholas Hoult as the title character, an anti-hero who also serves as Dracula’s familiar. Nic Cage is the legendary Count. While Ben Schwartz plays the movie’s human villain – Teddy Lobo.
You can read more about Teddy Lobo here, while this is how the official production notes describe Ben’s character: “Tedward ‘Teddy’ Lobo – the power-hungry eldest son of a powerful New Orleans crime family – imagines himself as the ultimate gangster, even though struggles to be perceived that way.
“In the shadow of his domineering and terrifying mother, Bellafrancesca, Teddy is willing to do anything to elevate and amplify his street cred, and that makes him unpredictable and increasingly dangerous.”
Renfield star Ben Schwartz picks his favorite movie villains
As Ben Schwartz is playing a bad guy in Renfield, we spoke to him about his favorite movie villains of all time, and you can see his answers above, or read them below…
“That’s hard to do,” says Schwartz. “Maybe Heath Ledger’s Joker? I loved that performance! Who else would you do? Nobody’s asked me that yet. It’s fun to get new questions, I gotta tell you. What else do I love? I’m going to try to pick an animated movie. I don’t know, I’m putting too much pressure on myself. I’ll say Heath Ledger’s Joker.”
We then prompted Schwartz by asking about his love for Back to the Future, to which Ben said: “Oh! Biff Tannen! Great one! Thank you for that. And let’s say the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Those are my three favorite villains.
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“I love Jurassic Park! I just love Jurassic Park and I’m like who’s the villain in that? It has gotta be the T-Rex.”
How Scarface influenced Renfield’s Teddy Lobo
Ben Schwartz believes that his character Teddy Lobo is a bit of a poser, aping the villainous movie gangsters he looks up to rather than actually being like them.
To prepare for the role, Schwartz reveals: “I watched Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and Donnie Brasco. We played with the idea that he has a swagger about him because those are the movies that he idolizes.
“He’s got some sort of blacklight poster of like, Scarface or Heat or something like that. He’s a badass character in his head, but he’s never going to be those guys.”
Interviewer: Kim Taylor-Foster.
Renfield hits screens this Friday (April 24, 2023). You can read our review of the movie here, and details on any post-credits scene here.