Yahoo News Claes Bang was only actor considered for Dracula, reveals Gatiss
Benedict Cumberbatch was the one-and-only actor considered to play the lead in Sherlock – and when it came to casting their Dracula, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat once again had a list with just one person's name on it.
Speaking to Digital Spy, Gatiss revealed that Danish actor Claes Bang was the only person ever considered to play the famous vampire in their new TV series.
Related: Who is Dracula's Claes Bang?
"Just like Benedict, we didn't see anybody else," Gatiss explained. "He was recommended... we all watched that film The Square [a 2017 film satire starring Bang as a troubled art curator] and just went, 'Well, who else is it?'
"I think he actually is Dracula! In the novel, of course, Dracula's trying to get to England... I think he's finally succeeded by being cast in his own show.
"Claes looks like Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee at the same time. He's a fantastic actor – my God, his presence is amazing. So that's why we cast him!"
Filming on Dracula will begin next year, with three feature-length episodes set to re-introduce the world to the vampire who "made evil sexy".
A synopsis for the series reads: "In Transylvania in 1897, the blood-drinking Count is drawing his plans against Victorian London. And be warned: the dead travel fast."
Bang has worked mainly on stage and in television in his native Denmark, appearing in episodes of The Bridge and Borgen. He can currently be seen opposite Claire Foy in The Girl in the Spider's Web and will appear in the fifth and final season of The Affair.
Upon the announcement of his casting, Bang said: "I am thrilled to be taking on the role of Dracula, especially when the script is in the hands of the incredible talents of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and the team responsible for Sherlock."
Mark Gatiss's Christmas ghost story The Dead Room airs on Christmas Eve (Monday, December 24) at 10pm on BBC Four.
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