‘Renfield’: Shohreh Aghdashloo Joins Chris McKay’s Monster Movie For Universal

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog, The Expanse) is the latest addition to the cast of Renfield, the monster movie that Chris McKay (The Tomorrow War, The Lego Batman Movie) is directing for Universal Pictures.

She’ll star alongside previously announced cast members including Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina, Adrian Martinez and Ben Schwartz.

The film based on an original story outline from The Walking Dead and Invincible’s Robert Kirkman centers on Renfield (Hoult), who has grown sick and tired of his centuries as Dracula’s (Cage) lackey. The henchman finds a new lease on life and maybe even redemption when he falls for feisty, perennially angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina).

Aghdashloo will play Ella, a bold woman who is one of the most feared crime lords in the city.

Ryan Ridley (Ghosted, Rick and Morty) wrote the script. McKay is producing the film shooting in New Orleans with Skybound Entertainment’s film team, including Kirkman, David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst, with his producing partner Samantha Nisenboim exec producing.

Aghdashloo is best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in House of Sand and Fog and her Emmy-winning role in HBO’s acclaimed miniseries House of Saddam. She is in production on Season 2 of HBO Max’s Emmy-nominated series The Flight Attendant and also can be seen starring in the futuristic Amazon series The Expanse, based on the bestselling book series. She’s also recently starred in films including the romantic comedy Simple Wedding, which had her exec producing and sharing the screen with Rita Wilson; Canadian indie The Cuban, also starring Louis Gossett Jr.; and Run Sweetheart Run, a feminist horror-thriller co-produced by Blumhouse Productions in association with Quiet Girl Productions.

Aghdashloo is represented by CAA, Tamara N. Houston of Icon Mann Management and Nancy Seltzer & Associates.