Nicolas Cage.Photo: JC Olivera/Getty
Hollywood’s wild card has built a reputation off of his eccentric antics on- and off-screen, but don’t be fooled — he’s always been in on the joke. Cage has been entertaining fans since the ’80s, being versatile enough to play the bad boy, action star, man on a mission to rescue his truffle pig and most recently, the actor has signed on to play “Nick Cage,” an invented caricature version of himself inThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
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In honor of the Capricorn’s 58th birthday, take a wild ride down memory lane to discover just how little you actually know about Hollywood’s most interesting man.
Nicolas Cage is not even his real name.
It’s actually Nicolas Kim Coppola, and yes, he’s related to the Coppolas you’re thinking of. Cage is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, director ofThe Godfather, which also makes him first cousins with director Sofia Coppola.
In 2009, Cage toldNew York Magazinethat at 15 years old, he told his famous uncle about wanting to act while they were in a car together. “Give me a screen test — I’ll show you acting,” he recalled. “There was just silence in the car.”
Early on in his career, the star eventually changed his last name to separate himself from his famous family.
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He’s not an actor, he’s a “thespian.”
ThePigstar explained why he prefers to be called “thespian” over “actor” while onVariety’s Awards Circuitpodcast in December.
“For me it always implies, ‘Oh, he’s a great actor, therefore he’s a great liar,’ " Cage said. “So with the risk of sounding like a pretentious a–hole, I like the word ‘thespian’ because thespian means you’re going into your heart, or you’re going into your imagination, or your memories or your dreams, and you’re bringing something back to communicate with the audience.”
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talentcomes out in April but he won’t be watching it.
Cage’s upcoming flick is getting a lot of buzz as fans are anticipating the most Nic Cage movie ever, but the star has no interest in watching the film. He toldColliderin September that heis “never going to see” the moviebecause “it’s just too much of a whacked-out trip for me to go to a movie theater and watch me play Tom Gormican’s highly-neurotic, anxiety-ridden version of me.”
“I said, ‘Tom, that’s not really me. I’m really [made of] quiet, meditative, thoughtful moments. I’m not this neurotic, high-strung, anxiety-ridden guy all the time.’ But he said, ‘Well, neurotic Cage is the best Cage,’ " the actor recalled. “I said, ‘Okay, okay. Let’s go, man. I’ll do what you want.’ I won’t see it. But I do hope you enjoy it.”
Don’t expect him to ever retire.
“That can’t happen. To do what I do in cinema has been like a guardian angel for me, and I need it,” he toldEntertainment Weeklyduring an interview in September. “I’m healthier when I’m working, I need a positive place to express my life experience, and filmmaking has given me that. So I’m never going to retire.”
Cage loves animals and has owned a rare two-headed gopher snake named Harvey Dent and an African pied crow named Huginn who speaks.
“He likes to eat cat food, which makes it easy, because I give my cats Sheba Perfect Portions, and Huginn enjoys it as well,” he added. “I think he has a sense of humor, so maybe that’s why he called me an asshole.”
Cage also had atwo-headed snake named Harvey Dent, named after theBatmanvillain (a.k.a. Two-Face). He donated the pet to the Audubon zoo in New Orleans in 2008, and it lived to be around 14 years old until it died in September of 2021. Audubon announced Harvey’s death on Instagram, revealing that he succumbed to “health issues related to old age.”
His pet king cobras have influenced his acting.
Neighbors had heard about the cobras and were not happy about them, so Cage donated them to a zoo, but he used the cobra’s hypnotizing side-to-side method when he acted inGhost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. “That’s something my character does before he attacks,” he told the outlet. “Animals are fun places to get inspiration.” He also had a pet octopus that supposedly helpedhim become a better actor.
Seth Poppel/Yearbook Library.
If he wasn’t an actor, he’d probably be a journalist.
He got Johnny Depp to consider an acting career during a game of Monopoly.
In the August 2019Timesinterview, Cage also shared how he and Johnny Depp had been friends when Depp was an unknown in Hollywood and was still vying for a career as a musician. While the two were talking over a game of Monopoly, Cage told Depp to try acting and Depp declined, saying, “No, I can’t act.” Cage persisted and eventually set Depp up to meet with his agent.
“She sent him out on his first audition, which wasA Nightmare on Elm Street,” Cage recalled of Depp’s early years. “He got the part that day. Overnight sensations don’t happen. But it happened with him.”
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Cage owns his own 9-ft.-tall pyramid tomb in New Orleans' oldest cemetery.
He spent $150 million on 15 homes, including one haunted mansion, two islands, a dinosaur skull, a Lamborghini, exotic pets and a rare vintage comic book.
Cage has amassed a large fortune after working 30-plus years in the industry. At one point, he was on aspending spree, splurging on extravagant itemsthat eventually placed him on a perilous financial path. Then in 2010,Cage had to pay the IRS $14 millionin back taxes. During his spending heyday, here’s what he purchased:
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talenthits theaters on April 22, 2022.
source: people.com
