Then: Gary Oldman played the part of Vlad III the Impaler/Dracula, the enigmatic Transylvanian man who hires Jonathan Harker to help him purchase property in London. Andy Garcia, Gabriel Byrne, Armand Assante, Antonio Banderas, and Viggo Mortensen all auditioned for the role. Oldman and Ryder did not get along on set at all, even though they were quite friendly in the beginning.
Now: Oldman played Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy of films, and recently appeared in ‘Lawless’ and ‘Paranoia.’ He can be seen next in the ‘RoboCop’ remake and ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.’
Then: Winona Ryder had a stack of scripts she’d been offered, including a Dracula film, which was to be directed by Michael Apted as a TV movie. Ryder took the script to Francis Ford Coppola and convinced him to direct it as a feature film, thus mending the bridge that had been burned when Ryder abruptly dropped out of ‘The Godfather Part III’ six months earlier. Ryder played Mina, Jonathan’s fiancee, who happens to be a reincarnated version of Dracula’s old love, Elisabeta.
Now: Ryder recently reunited with her ‘Beetlejuice’ director Tim Burton for ‘Frankenweenie,’ and has appeared in ‘The Iceman’ and an episode of the Comedy Central series ‘Drunk History.’ She can be seen next alongside James Franco and Jason Statham in ‘Homefront.’
Then: Liam Neeson had expressed a rabid desire to star as the storied vampire slayer Van Helsing in ‘Dracula,’ but once Academy Award winner and ‘Silence of the Lambs’ star Anthony Hopkins expressed interest, the part was offered to him instead.
Now: Hopkins reprises the role of Odin in the upcoming sequel ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ and recently appeared in ‘Red 2′ and ‘Hitchcock.’ He can be seen next spring in Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Noah,’ based on the Biblical story.
Then: Coppola was looking for a younger, hotter actor to play the role of protagonist Jonathan Harker — someone who would be a hit with the ladies. Johnny Depp turned down the part, and Charlie Sheen was considered before it ultimately went to Keanu Reeves, with whom Winona Ryder had an interest in working. Upon release, Reeves was heavily criticized for his performance; he later explained that he wasn’t happy with it, either, and blamed his lack of energy on fatigue from filming too many movies back to back.
Now: Reeves recently made his directorial debut with ‘Man of Tai Chi,’ a martial arts movie in which he also stars. He produced the documentary ‘Side by Side,’ and can be seen next in ’47 Ronin.’
