Spooky Season Dracula Actors #4: Claes Bang

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES SEDUCER AND RUNAWAY HEART-THROB COUNT

Last, but not least, the most recent actor to play the immortal count, Danish actor Claes Bang. 

In a radical reimagining of Dracula in 2020, the BBC filmed three episodes - two of which were faithful to the book, one set in Dracula's castle and one aboard The Demeter. The third episode saw Dracula transported to present-day Whitby after being asleep in his coffin at the bottom of the sea for 123 years after The Demeter was wrecked. 

This third episode wasn't popular with some die-hard fans. I consider it a worthy addition to the Dracula canon and I also consider Claes Bang to be an amazing casting choice. This obviously has nothing to do with him being incredibly easy on the eye. I am, of course, talking about his acting talent. 😜

This version of Dracula has to be seen to be believed. It's dark, witty, heart-breaking and tender. For the first time, Dracula is all about seducing the men as much as the ladies. 

Bela Lugosi was my favourite Dracula until I saw Claes Bang. Now I think he has taken the title. He's tall, dark, incredibly handsome and has all the best lines. When Dracula is imprisoned in 2020 Whitby by Zoe Van Helsing, the descendant of Agatha Van Helsing (gender reversal and she's a nun too), he's given a tablet to read books. He soon reveals that he's been Sykpeing a lawyer to get him released. Zoe angrily asks the staff who gave him the Wi-Fi password. He smiles and says it's his own name. 😂

In my Halloween story, Beautifully Haunted, main characters Dexter and Kade have a conversation at Whitby Abbey about who is the hottest Dracula. After mentioning all four actors in my Spooky Season series, the winner is decided as Claes Bang.

In the final scene of Dracula, Zoe tells the Count that he's a coward—too scared to die—and his fears— the cross, mirrors and sunlight—are things that have become lore with him, affectations that reveal his shame at who and what he is. When she rips the curtains down, he writhes on the floor in the sunlight, before slowly realising that he isn't burning. Zoe is dying of cancer and her blood is poison to him. In a tender love scene, Dracula drinks her blood and dies with her, uttering the line:

"After all this time, did you think I'd let it hurt?"