He was one of the highest paid actors in
Hollywood, but lost all his wealth in a moment. Is there a chance for Nicolas Cage to return to the
top league of cinema? What role does he like the most? And why did he purchase a haunted house?
Today on the Biographer channel we are going to talk about Nicolas Cage’s ups and downs.
What role his famous uncle played in the formation of his career, and what the
craziest purchases made him bankrupt.
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CHILDHOOD
Nicolas Coppola was born on January 7, 1964 in the
California city of Long Beach, in the suburbs of Los Angeles. His parents were literature teacher
August Floyd Coppola and dancer and choreographer Joy Vogelsang. Nicolas was the youngest
of three sons. Yes, that's right, the real surname of Nicolas is Coppola, he is the nephew
of the famous director Francis Ford Coppola.
That fact partly had a large impact on Cage's
future life and his future attachment to cinema. He wanted to become an actor from an early age.
His idol was actor James Dean, as well as Bruce Lee. Inspired by the latter, Cage even
studied martial arts for a while.
Francis and Nicolas are not the only creative
persons from the Coppola family, which is often called the clan. One of Nicolas' elder brothers
also became an actor. The second chose the profession of a film director. And his grandfather
Carmine Coppola was a famous composer.
“I think that a love of music
came to me from my grandfather. I'm a big fan of both rock and classics. I like
to listen to Bach at home, and when I'm driving in the car — "Led Zeppelin" or Tom Waits sound.”
Once the boys began to bully Nicolas because of his famous surname, but he did not run
to the teachers or parents to complain. Instead, he changed into a leather jacket, put on
dark glasses and appeared before the bullies under the guise of Roy Richards, threatening to beat
them. The trick was a great success and since then no one had picked on Nicolas anymore.
The childhood of the future actor was darkened by the fact that his mother
had serious mental problems.
She was plagued with mental
illness for most of my childhood
When the boy was 12 years old, his
parents divorced, but the sons kept warm relations with both dad and mom.
“These are two integral aspects – my father gave me an intellectual life, and my mother
gave me an emotional life, and one goes well with the other and help me a lot in acting”
Nicolas attended Beverly Hills High School, which was famous for its graduates who have made a
career in show business. He aspired to act from an early age, so he participated in school
productions, and also attended the School of Theater, Film and Television at the
University of California, Los Angeles. In high school, he often spent his summer
holidays on acting courses in San Francisco.
When Nicolas was 15, he began to actively
ask Uncle Francis to give him a role in a movie. One day they were driving in a car and
Nicolas asked to hold an audition for him.
“Give me a screen test - I`ll show you
acting.” There was just silence in the car.
Nicolas did not give up, without waiting for
help from the famous uncle. He decided to drop out of high school to enroll in courses at the
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Francis Ford Coppola, James Dean and many other
cinema stars graduated from that institution at one time.
EARLY CAREER
The actor made his film debut in 1981. Then Nicolas appeared in the TV
series "The Best of times"
After that, he got a cameo role in the
comedy "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". As it often happened with newcomers, most of the
scenes with him were cut. That greatly undermined Nicolas' self-esteem. For a while he worked as a
popcorn seller at the Fairfax Theater, thinking that it was the only way to a film career.
And then his famous uncle decided to help his nephew a little. He gave Nicolas a job reading
lines with actors auditioning for Coppola's "Rumble Fish". As a result, Cage managed to prove
himself and get a small role in that film.
However, Nicolas wanted to break
into the big cinema on his own. He chose the pseudonym Cage, avoiding associations
with his family. It was chosen on behalf of the great avant-garde composer John Cage and Marvel
comics hero Luke Cage at the same time.
“I always liked Luke Cage because
he had supernatural abilities, but at the same time he sometimes experienced
human feelings — depression, for example.”
As a result, our hero appeared in his next film
already under the surname Cage. It was Valley Girl of 1983. That time he got not an episodic,
but the central role of punk rocker Randy, for which the actor received a fee of 5 thousand
dollars. It's not bad enough for a beginner. The film received mostly positive reviews, and,
one might say, launched Cage's career.
The next works of the young actor were the
melodrama “Racing With The Moon” and the drama “Birdy”, which received the Grand Prix of
the Cannes Film Festival. Preparing for filming, Nicolas Cage demanded that he, like his hero,
pull out two teeth without anesthesia.
In the same year, he began dating actress Jenny
Wright. They met at one of the auditions. The actress was only 2 years older than her lover,
but Cage's friends kept joking about him: “Bro, why do you need this lady?”. In early
1986, the couple announced their engagement. Even invitations were sent out, but a month before
the ceremonie, the guests received notifications by mail that the wedding would not happen. It
was said that Jenny caught Nicolas cheating, but both have stayed silent to this day about
the true reasons for their breaking up.
No matter how hard the actor tried not
to use family ties, Francis Ford Coppola still influenced the development of his career by
offering to act in his next projects. First there was the gangster drama "The Cotton Club" in 1984.
There Nicolas' role wasn't again the leading one, but he still took the preparation very
seriously. Cage smashed his own van into small pieces of iron, while shouting and
cursing wildly, in order to get into character. The director called him a psycho, but it
could be called the best compliment.
It was probably just then Francis Ford Coppola
finally realized that his nephew could be a good actor. Therefore, in his film "Peggy Sue Got
Married" in 1986, Cage got the main role.
The recognition of his uncle meant even more
to Cage than the public and critics' approval. Although he continued to grumble sometimes,
as if Nicolas did not know how to act at all. Nevertheless, Cage brilliantly coped with his
role, playing in a duet with actress Kathleen Turner. Although, in the process of working on
the picture, the uncle-director once got angry at his nephew and almost fired him for persistently
making his hero speak in some strange falsetto. But later Coppola resigned himself and agreed
that the unusual tone of voice successfully highlighted the character of the hero.
A major breakthrough in his career can be considered the melodrama "Moonstruck" by Norman
Jewison, which became one of the winners of the 1988 Oscar. Cage played a central role there,
sharing the set with the brilliant Cher. By the way, Cage owes her his role. Initially,
Cage's auditions did not impress the director. But Cher insisted that he should be given
a chance, and even threatened to leave the film if he didn't get it.
Cage said that during the shooting of one of the most emotional scenes, he was
inspired by Fritz Lang's iconic “Metropolis”, namely the moment when the doctor took the glove
off the metal hand. In that way Cage wanted to add a touch of German expressionism to the film.
In the same 87th year, Cage played the role of a recidivist thief in the Coen
brothers' crime comedy “Raising Arizona". It was the first film by famous directors,
shot in their signature genre - low comedy.
Getting the role from the Coen brothers
turned out to be a difficult task.
The relationship between Nicolas Cage and
the Coens was respectful, but very emotional. Cage often offered the Coen
brothers ideas that they ignored.
"Joel and Ethan have a very strong vision and
I've learned how difficult it is to accept another artist's vision. They have an autocratic nature."
Nevertheless, the atmosphere on the set was friendly. "Super 8 feeling" - it was
how Cage described working on the film. That phrase meant that the pleasure the actor
received from filming could be compared to the moments when his brothers and he made films
with a Super 8 camera given by their father as a child. That was the moment when filming took
place solely for the love of cinema. It wasn't for money or recognition, but simply because you were
crazy about that story and the filming process.
Remarkably, film critics did not initially enjoy
the film as much as its creators. Only over time, their opinion began to change dramatically. At
the moment "Raising Arizona" is firmly among the classic comedies of the 1980s. The American Film
Institute gave the Coens' film the 31st place in the list of the best American comedies.
In 1988, the film “Vampire's Kiss” was released, where Cage's fee was already 40 thousand dollars.
The film told the story of a literary agent who fell in love with a vampire. The picture
failed at the box office, but later became a cult and gave us one of the most famous memes.
Later Cage starred in the Italian military drama "Time to Kill" in 1989, and in a year he
got a role in the action movie "Fire Birds", where his partners were Tommy Lee Jones and Sean
Young. That picture also received a bad rating. It was perceived as a secondary work based on
the successful film "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise.
After that, Cage was more lucky, and he, along
with actress Laura Dern, played the main role in David Lynch's melodrama "Wild At Heart". The
director himself wrote the music for the film, and Nicolas sang the song. That film was awarded
the main prize "Palme d'Or" at the Cannes Film Festival, and Cage's work was highly appreciated,
although he did not receive prizes for it.
Nicolas did not forget about
his personal life either.
Back in '88, the actor began to be noticed with
actress Christina Fulton. In December 1990, the couple had a son, Weston. After becoming a
mother, Christina started demanding Nicolas to be at home more often, but he, being busy with
his career, could not physically do it. As a result, they broke up. Cage, in addition
to basic alimony, paid his son and ex-wife $ 3 million a year. But the actress thought that
it was not enough. One day she sued her former lover, demanding also to give her possession
of the house that Cage bought when Weston was born. The court, taking into account the
huge alimony, did not satisfy the wishes of the actress. The actors decided to keep the
illusion of a good relationship for their son.
The next few years were fruitful for the
actor by the number of roles and films, but generally were unsuccessful by the
box office and public recognition.
In 1991, the erotic thriller “Zandalee”
was released, which received mostly negative critics' reviews. And a year later
- the romantic comedy “Honeymoon In Vegas" with Sarah Jessica Parker was released.
Neo-noir thriller “Red Rock West” received quite positive reviews. It toured the
USA for a while as an art-house hit.
The following film “Amos & Andrew”, where
Cage played in a duet with Samuel L. Jackson, failed at the box office. After that, there
was the extremely unsuccessful “Deadfall” directed by Nicolas' brother, Christopher Coppola,
“Guarding Tess”, “It Could Happen To You”, “Trapped In Paradise” and “Kiss Of Death".
In 1992, Cage met model Kristen Zang at one of the social events. The relationship between
the stars lasted 2 years. It was like a fairy tale. Nicolas proposed to Kristen in a chic
restaurant, knelt in front of the public.
And everything would have been great if,
shortly before the wedding, Cage had not met his long-time beloved actress Patricia Arquette .
The story of Cage's matchmaking to Arquette has long become a legend. They met back in 1987.
Cage fell in love with her so much that he made a marriage proposal 5 hours after the first
meeting. The girl thought that the actor was joking and gave him a whole list of what he would
need to do to become her husband. For example, to get a black orchid and an autograph of the writer
Salinger, who, as you know, lived as a recluse and did not let anyone come near himself.
When Cage did all the actress' wishes, she was afraid of such pressure and asked not
to bother her anymore. And 8 years later, when Nicolas was just getting ready for his wedding
with Zang, she suddenly called him and asked if he still wanted to marry her. The actor told Zang
that he decided to break up with her by phone.
So, in 1995, their wedding took place. The
marriage would last as long as 6 years, although it was claimed that it was an
official info, but in fact the couple lived together for only nine months.
1995 was also significant for Cage's acting career.
THE HEYDAY OF A CAREER
Cage was lucky enough to get the
main role of an unhappy alcoholic who fell in love with a call girl in a
romantic drama “Leaving Las Vegas”.
The actor continued the tradition
of careful preparation for the role. He reviewed all the cult films about alcoholics,
and borrowed something from each character. In addition, Cage had been drinking in Dublin for
two weeks and asked a friend to take him on video to study how he behaved in a state of drunkenness.
The actor also visited hospitalized alcoholics. He said "it was one of the most enjoyable pieces
of research I've ever had to do for a part.”
Cage didn't stop there and hired the poet Tony
Dingman, who was drinking heavily at the time.
Tony often said brilliant drunken aphorisms during
that time and Cage later used it in the film.
Cage shot there with full confidence that no
one would need that movie with a small budget, and he wouldn't see an Oscar. And in that
case the actor just decided to wig out. He decided to act for pleasure, without thinking
about the consequences. He was trying to get out of control in front of the camera in order
to give maximum credibility and realism.
The Golden Globe and Oscar statues were a real
surprise for Cage. Despite the modest expectations of the creators, the film got excellent reviews
and was warmly received by the audience.
“Leaving Las Vegas” is still in the
tops of the best films of Nicolas Cage. And what roles of an actor do you like
the most? Write in the comments.
The crime thriller "Kiss Of Death", released
in the same year, did not have much success, but many critics highlighted Cage's acting.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called Cage "one of the few American actors who are becoming
more and more interesting from film to film." The Washington Post wrote that Cage "dominates
the camera, stealing scenes by the sheer intensity of his inimitable strangeness"
and makes the film "worth seeing".
Cage himself says he doesn't
have a specific style of act. It’s almost like a mixed martial art.
It can be whatever you want it to be.
You can combine, you can create your Jeet Kune
Do with acting. Don’t get trapped in a style. Don’t get trapped in naturalism, and be open
to your dreams.Your imagination is your most important tool, and there are ways to augment
your imagination, healthy ways to augment your imagination, so that you’re not necessarily doing,
you’re being. Dreams. Dreams are important.
The next film with Cage was included in
the Top 100 Best Action Movies Of All Time, and also became the only Michael Bay’s film to
receive a "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's about “The Rock”, in which Cage
was on the set with Sean Connery.
During the filming, the actors actually lived in
prison. Drinking water and food were regularly brought to them from the "mainland". Shooting was
complicated by the changeable weather, because of which the whole team had to stop working.
Cage later said that his main task was to show a new type of the dynamic action character.
The actor claimed that his character in the original script was weakly written and it
was completely uninteresting to act him.
“I think only two types of American
films are successful all over the world: action films and comedies. But the genre of the
action movie clearly goes bad. People are tired of steroid heroes with small heads. I wanted to
offer them such a hero, which has not yet been”
As a result, Michael Bay, along with
some screenwriters, thoroughly rewrote the original script, and gave Cage total
freedom of creation of the character.
According to rumors, Sean Connery agreed
to star in the film only after Nicolas Cage got one of the roles. Their tandem
got positive reviews from the audience, and the actors received the MTV
Movie Awards as the best duo.
A year later, another action movie
with Cage's participation was released. It was “Con Air”, where John Cusack and
John Malkovich were the Cage's company. Although the cast and battle scenes were highly
rated, generally the film received very restrained feedback from the critics. Moreover, the "Con
Air" got the Golden Raspberry anti-award.
"Con Air" and "The Rock" enabled
the actor to take hold in the role, which in following years became one of his
favorites. It was the type of an "ordinary" person who got into extreme situations and
was forced to show remarkable resourcefulness, ingenuity and often physical endurance.
In the same year, viewers were able to see another remarkable action movie with Cage - “
Face/Off”. There his character was a policeman. By the will of fate he changed faces with
John Travolta's character - a criminal. Initially, Nicolas Cage turned down the
role, as he did not want to play a villain…
However, when the actor was told that he would
actually play a positive character for most of the film, he immediately agreed. Cage and
Travolta spent two weeks together before filming to learn how to act each other.
They decided on the specific gestures and manner of speech of each character that could be
imitated. Cage considers this role his favorite.
That was followed by Cage's successful,
but less high-profile film works. There was the touching “City of Angels” with Meg
Ryan; Martin Scorsese “Bringing Out the Dead”, failed in box office, but received good reviews;
the detective thriller “8 millimeters” with the impressive box office, and “Snake Eyes”, for which
Cage was paid a record $ 16 million for him.
And at that time, a film about one of the
most famous superheroes could appear in his filmography, but it did not work out. In the
mid-90s, Warner Bros. decided to make a film about Superman for the 60th anniversary, where
Cage would play the main role, and Tim Burton would sit in the director's chair. While Cage,
who is a big fan of Superman, happily tried on the costume, the script was repeatedly rewritten.
Hollywood legends stated that there were as many as 9 versions, and some of which were frankly
delusional. At some point, the producers realized that, firstly, they did not have time to the
anniversary, and secondly, the budget of the film was much higher than originally planned. As a
result, the project was shut down. Cage received a generous 20 million penalty as a consolation.
In general, Nicolas Cage is famous for his love of superheroics.
“My passion for comics came from childhood, when I read comic books every day, and it was
from them that I learned to read at all.”
When Martin Scorsese, followed by Francis
Ford Coppola, criticized movie comics in 2019, Nicolas defended superheroics.
What could be wrong with wholesome entertainment that is appealing to parents and children,
and gives people something to look forward to? I don’t see what the issue is.
Over the years, Nicolas had collected 400 vintage editions. There was the extremely
rare Action Comics No. 1 of 1938 among them, in which Superman debuted. Unfortunately, in 2000,
that edition, along with two others, were stolen.
Nic, we understand you. Currently,
about 50-100 copies of this edition are known to exist. Later, the actor sold his
entire collection at auction for $ 1.6 million.
In 2007, Nicolas along with his
son Weston drew his own comic book, which was published by Virgin Comics. In addition, the actor has tattoos of a ghost
rider on his left arm, which is very symbolic.
One of the best films in the actor's filmography
is the thriller "Gone in Sixty Seconds" of 2000. Its budget was $90 million, 20 of which went to
Cage's fee. The actor studied at a stunt driving school in preparation for filming and performed
most of the stunts driving himself. After finishing the project, racing cars became his
hobby. On the set, Cage became very friendly with Angelina Jolie. Their screen duet turned out to
be so bright, that later the tabloids attributed the romance to the actors for a long time.
His next work is also very catchy. Cage played the role of a cruel workaholic who was
slowly realizing the value of family and love in the melodrama "The Family Man". And
although from the critics' point of view, it was a "typical and predictable Christmas
story," the audience loved that movie.
As you can see, Cage likes to experiment
with genres without stopping at one thing.
“I really work with the same interest
on movies of different genres. An entertainment cinema can distract a person
from his problems for an hour and a half, and an intellectual one makes him think. In any
case, the actor did not work in vain, did he?”
By the early 2000s, Nicolas Cage was
one of the wealthiest actors in America. As an Oscar-winner and a top-level movie
star, he received very high fees for his work, which, with his creative fecundity,
added up to more than a fair amount. But Cage has never been fixated on saving money.
Cage has a reputation as one of Hollywood's most generous philanthropists. In particular, he
donated $2 million to Amnesty International to help children affected by military conflicts
around the world, $ 1 million to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, and also supported many
other charitable and educational programs, for which he was honored with a
Humanitarian award from the United Nations.
In 2001, three projects were released
with Cage's participation and all of them were unsuccessful. There was the miserably
failed melodrama “Captain Corelli's Mandolin”, then the first voice-over of a cartoon in his
career - in an expressionless “Christmas Carol: The Movie”, and the cliched “Windtalkers".
Soon Cage managed to salvage the situation with the tragicomedy “Adaptation." with
Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. In the movie, he played the double role of twin brothers. During
the filming, the actor had to wear a fat suit to look plump, but the result was worth it.
The eccentric movie got many awards and nominations at various film festivals. In
particular, Cage received another Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for his role.
Next Nicolas tried himself as a director and producer in the movie “Sonny”,
where James Franco got the main role.
In parallel with that, serious passions were
running high in his personal life. In 2001, the actor met Lisa Marie Presley. A year later
they got married. Family life was tempestuous. The couple constantly had scandals. According
to rumors, once the couple had a big quarrel, standing on the bridge, and Lisa shouted that
everything was over between them. Then Cage pulled off her wedding ring for 65 thousand dollars and
threw it into the water. On the same day, they made up and hired a diver, but it was very deep,
and the ring couldn't be found. Two days later, Nicolas presented his wife with a new ring, even
larger and more expensive than the previous one.
The cost of the ring, however, did
not strengthen the relationship in any way. Their marriage lasted only 109 days.
There were rumors that Nicolas married Lisa only because he was a fan of Elvis Presley.
However, Cage has repeatedly denied that.
“I married Lisa Marie Presley only because I was
in love with her and wanted to have a family with her. Her legendary father had nothing to do with
it. Of course, like millions of other people, I like the songs performed by Elvis
Presley, but I have never been his fan, I have not bought things belonging to him at
auctions and have not behaved like a real fan.”
In 2003, Cage appeared in Ridley Scott's
"Matchstick Men", based on the book of the same name by Eric Garcia. The film, which received
very positive reviews from critics, unfortunately, hardly recouped at the box office.
“National Treasure”, released a year later, turned out to be quite an interesting film
about a treasure hunt. Although critics did not delight the creators with high ratings.
The phrase of the main character of the film, Ben Gates,.....
…. became a meme.
Creating such a twisted plot was a very difficult
process. According to some rumors, it took five screenwriters to finish the story, according to
others, there were as many as nine. The original version of the film lasted about four hours.
Interestingly, the film's director Jon Turteltaub was familiar with Nicolas
Cage well for a long time. They attended the same high school in the 1970s and even
participated in school plays together.
There are many symbolic details in the
film that do not immediately catch the eye. For example, the characters Ben, Patrick and
John Gates were named after the Founding Fathers. And the name of Diane Kruger's heroine Abigail
Chase is a combination of names Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, and Samuel Chase,
who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Although initially the creators did not plan a
sequel, the popularity of the film changed their minds. Already in 2007, the second part premiered.
It became the first sequel in Cage's career.
“I avoided sequels in every possible
way, simply because I didn't really like repeating myself before, but in this
case it seemed to me that each episode was a new adventure with new possibilities,
something like a historical detective.”
By the way, Cage at some point became interested
in history and solving puzzles himself. For some time he was quite seriously engaged
in the search for the Holy Grail. The research led him to Rhode Island, which he found so
beautiful that he purchased real estate there.
After a series of high-profile affairs, Nicolas
Cage did not appear in public with women at all for some time. The actor's friends
even began to worry that he would start drinking or something worse, but Cage surprised
everyone. One day he met a Korean waitress at a sushi bar and a passionate romance began
between them. No one took it seriously, but in 2004 the couple got married, and
a year later they had a son, Kal-El. They named him after Superman. It was Nicolas Cage's
longest marriage, which ended after 12 years.
In 2005, Andrew Niccol's “Lord of War” was
released, in which Cage played an illegal arms dealer. His character was based on the true
stories of several arms dealers and smugglers.
It was quite logical that a lot of weapons
would be needed for a film about that. Usually props were used in movies.
However, not that time. Real Kalashnikov assault rifles were bought for the film.
But that's not all. The real tanks that previously belonged to the Czech army and were intended for
sale to Libya were used in the movie. The film crew had to warn NATO, just in case. Because
in the event that they had recorded a large amount of military equipment from satellites,
they would not decide that a war had begun.
And that was not done at all to make the film more
real. The creators just found that it would be cheaper to buy a real weapon, not a fake one.
During the making of it, I needed guns in the Czech Republic, and it was cheaper to
use real guns than replicas. I bought 3000 Kalashnikovs and then sold them back at a
loss. I wouldn't make a very good arms dealer.
Andrew Niccol
It didn't mean that Andrew Niccol was a fan of illegal gun culture. After filming,
he destroyed several guns, without wishing to resell them back into use. In addition, the film
was officially approved by the human rights group Amnesty International for bringing to light
the problem of illicit arms trafficking by the international military industry.
Perhaps, the “Lord of War” can be considered a milestone, after which
Cage's career rapidly headed downhill.
At first, “The Weather Man” by Gore Verbinski
failed at the box office. Although, in fairness, it must be said that many viewers liked that
film, which couldn't be said about critics. Next, there was Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center",
which received relatively good ratings and a good box office. Later an extremely unsuccessful
remake of The Wicker Man of 1973 was released. Cage was nominated for the infamous Golden
Raspberry for the role in that film.
From that moment on, it became clear to
everyone that something was clearly wrong with Cage's career.
BEGINNING OF THE END
In 2007, there was another box office failure
in the form of the film “Next”. The movie “Ghost Rider” based on comics about the character
of the same name was released following it.
The development of the film began back
in 1992. Johnny Depp and Eric Bana were proposed for the main role, but the process was
delayed. Finally, in 2001, the situation became a little clearer and Cage, a big fan of the
Ghost Rider, found out about the project.
Cage was very close to that character,
because the actor grew up reading comics about the ghost rider, and he always
loved how cool that character looked.
Of course, Cage wanted to participate
in other filming processes, so he participated in writing the script,
although that was not mentioned in the credits. Cage also demanded that the Ghost Rider
look more realistic in post-production, and the producers had to significantly
increase the cost of production.
Sound engineers recorded the regular voice of
Nicolas Cage, changed it and mixed it with the crackling sound of flames, the howling
of wild animals, the scraping of chains and other creepy sounds to create the rumbling
voice of the Ghost Rider. According to the director, the trailers of the film do not
express all the richness of this sound, but in the cinema multi-channel version of the
soundtrack, the voice sounds really intimidating.
There were rumors that Cage's torso in
the film was created by computer graphics, but the actor denied that. It seems that
such assumptions even offended him a little.
Although the film received
negative critics' reviews, it had excellent box office. That's why
a few years later a sequel was released. The second part of Ghost Rider received
even worse reviews than its predecessor. Some viewers even suggested adding it to the list
of the worst films ever made. Cage was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Anti-award for his role
in the first and second parts of that film.
Nicolas didn't lose the fans' love due to his
unsuccessful projects. And sometimes that love bordered on natural madness. One day, a man
named Robert Furo broke into Nicolas Cage’s house at night, where he, his wife and son were
sleeping peacefully. The owner of the house, suddenly waking up, found a naked man sitting next
to him by the bed with an Edy's Pie in his hand. The unknown man was wearing only a
leather jacket of the apartment’s owner. The actor called security and asked the
uninvited guest to return the jacket. Soon, the crazy fan was peacefully led out
through the backyard and taken to the police.
Cage fans are generally very creative
guys. They invented "Caging", out of great love for the actor.
For those who did not know, Caging is a prank that means putting photographs
of Nicolas Cage in someone else's room or to things, without the knowledge or consent of
replacing someone else's wallpaper in gadgets with Cage's photo, and so on.
DEBTS AND BAD MOVIES
The year 2008 was marked by a global crisis.
Large enterprises failed, businessmen declared themselves bankrupt. Among the unfortunate ones
who were hit by the crisis was Nicolas Cage. It turned out that in the wake of success, Cage
did not notice how he spent his entire fortune, which was estimated at $ 150 million.
The actor bought luxury mansions, yachts at crazy prices, luxury cars, and spent on various
antiques without thinking about the consequences. Once Cage bought a whole castle in New Orleans
that belonged to the slave tormentor Madame Lalaurie. It was rumored to be haunted.
“I was going to write a great horror novel. Inspired by Stephen King and Lovecraft”
— he explained his purchase.
In addition, the actor raised a menagerie
at home: he bought a shark, an octopus and even a crocodile. At one of the auctions,
Cage bought a dinosaur skull for $276,000. But the relic turned out to be stolen,
and it had to be sent to the museum of Mongolia. The actor also spent money on dried
heads of African pygmies, and a meteorite.
At various periods, some of the luxury
items purchased by the actor were stolen, and most of his houses were
devalued due to the crisis of 2008.
Later it turned out that he owed
the tax service about $ 6 million, and blamed his manager for all the troubles.
As a result, the actor, accustomed to living high on the hog, had to turn
to friends for financial help.
Cage finally lost heart by the news of
the death of his father, with whom the actor had a good relationship. The artist was
devastated, both financially and emotionally.
But one thing I wasn’t going
to do was file for bankruptcy. I had this pride thing where I wanted to work my
way through anything, which was both good and bad. Not all the movies have been blue chip, but I’ve
kept getting closer to my instrument. And maybe there’s been more supply than demand, but on the
other hand, I’m a better man when I’m working.
The movie star had to sell the property
and agree to play any roles. That could explain the enormous number of bad films in
which he would star in the next 10 years.
”Knowing" of 2009 even paid off at the box
office, unlike the “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans” that followed it.
The transition period ended with the film “Kick-Ass”, where Nicolas played a rather
interesting role of the Hit-Girl's father. And next there was a series of films, which were
rather watchable, but not serious for a star of that level. “Tokarev", “Dying of the Light",
“The Runner", “Pay the Ghost", “Arsenal" and many others increasingly trampled Cage's reputation
into the ground. Nevertheless, the actor assured that even in the most difficult situation
he tried not to choose very bad projects.
“I tried to give my best even when
I was shooting four films a year. Not all of them turned out good... But I've
always worked hard. If someone thought that I was just playing the role soullessly,
then it wasn't so — I really did care.”
In 2010, the fantasy “The Sorcerer's
Apprentice” was released. Although it is difficult to call a bright representative
of the genre, in general, it turned out to be tolerable and had a good box office.
In 2011, Cage was nominated for the Golden Raspberry again for his role in
“Seeking Justice”. In the next few years, he would have a whole collection of nominations
for that anti-award for roles in the films “Snowden”, “Left Behind”, “Drive Angry".
The thriller “The Frozen Ground” of 2013 received generally negative reviews, however, many critics
agreed that Cage's charisma saved the whole film. Here's what they wrote about it
on the Rotten Tomatoes website:
Though this by-the-numbers true procedural seems
basic, The Frozen Ground presents a welcome return for Nicolas Cage in a solid performance.
In the same year, the independent crime drama film “Joe" was released. The plot was about
a former gangster who hired a 15-year-old boy and protected him from an abusive father.
The film took part in the competition program of the Venice Film Festival, where it received
critical acclaim, which highlighted the direction of David Gordon Green and the acting of Tye
Sheridan. Cage's work also attracted attention. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus reads:
Rich in atmosphere and anchored by a powerful performance from Nicolas Cage, Joe
is a satisfying return to form for its star.
Positive reviews of some of Cage's works proved
that the actor had lost neither talent nor skill. And it gave hope that fans just needed to wait for
their idol to improve his financial situation.
In 2018, an action movie with horror elements -
“Mandy” - was released. Cage appeared there in the role of a grieving woodcutter in the forest, who
had lost everything he loved and wanted revenge.
"Mandy” stood out clearly against the previous
projects in which Nicolas had participated.
That film, insane and reminiscent of a drug trip,
caused heated debate and received good reviews. It was praised for his style and originality,
Cage's acting, directing and fight scenes.
That project was clearly not one of those in which
Cage starred only for the sake of earning money. He really wanted to play that character
because he knew how it feels to lose love and knew that he could express the
full range of feelings of his hero.
Thrillist website named "Mandy" the
best Nicolas Cage film in recent years. Other websites also praised the actor,
calling the picture a combination of "Mad Max" and the Ironman competition.
Nick Allen from RogerEbert.com said the following about Cage 's game:
For all of the endless feral performances that Cage has given, in movies good, bad and
forgettable, Cosmatos’ style-driven, ‘80s-tastic passion for weird worlds and characters takes full
advantage of Cage’s greatness, and then some.
In the same year, an extremely successful
project with Cage's participation was released. It was the animated film “Spider-Man: Into the
Spider-Verse". The actor voiced Spider-Man Noir. Well, it was a good casting, considering
that Cage is a fan of a friendly neighbor.
Cage generally quite often voices
cartoons. The actor’s voice was also spoken by cartoon characters “The Ant Bully”,
“G-Force”, “Astro Boy”, and “The Croods".
In 2019, the actor surprised everyone when he
married his girlfriend Erika Koike and filed for divorce four days later. It turned out that at the
time of the marriage, he was so drunk that he did not understand what was happening.
THE RETURN OF THE LEGEND
2021 was an important year
for Nicolas. On February 16, he married for the fifth time
to his girlfriend Riko Shibata.
“I know five is a lot, but I
think I got it right this time.”
Now the couple is expecting a child.
In the same year, the film "Pig" was released. Cage received the best reviews in recent
years. The movie revived interest in the actor both from the audience and from the
studios. Cage played the role of an emotionally burned-out star chef with a tragic
past who had his beloved pig stolen from him.
Cage said he accepted the role
because of the excellent script.
Both the script and Cage's game received highly
positive reviews by critics. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay
and Cage got a second nomination for the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor. That project
and several previous successful ones made it clear to the film community that Nicolas
Cage is ready to return to the big leagues, and he still has something to say to the world.
On March 12, 2022, the world premiere of the film "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" was
at South by Southwest. It was a comedy about actor Nicolas Cage, who is trying to save his
career at all costs. Cage was buried in debt, and he agreed to perform at the birthday party
of a Mexican billionaire who turns out to be a drug lord to get out of the situation.
Critics were delighted with the film. In their opinion, this is the best picture in
Cage's career for a very long time. Prior to the film's wide release, "The Unbearable Weight of
Massive Talent" received 100% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and 78 points on Metacritic.
“I was very trepidatious to do it because I’m playing two heightened versions of myself… But
then I realized, everything that’s happened to me led up to this movie, whether I was hot or cold,
up or down ... there’s an arc to the story.”
Interestingly, it was the work on that picture
which allowed Cage to finally pay off his debts. Now he is free to choose only those projects that
he likes. In general, the actor plans to approach the choice of the role with great attention and
work on each next film as if it is his last.
It is known that in 2023 Cage will play
the role of Dracula in the film "Renfield". The film will be a reinterpretation of Bram
Stoker's "Dracula” and will tell about the servant of the great vampire from the mental
hospital. The events will take place in our time.
Let's hope that Cage will delight
fans with his roles more than once. In any case, the actor isn't
definitely going to retire.
“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. Where are we now, 117 movies?”
We can say that for the first time in
many years in the life of Nicolas Cage, everything is fine. The actor solved his
personal problems, and also almost accepted the fact that fans love to make memes out
of him and replace his face with the faces of characters from famous movies, animals,
and even paintings. Whether it's charisma, or cool shots, but the fact remains. Cage is one
of those actors who most often becomes the hero of memes. If you click on this icon, you find out
about the films and actors who gave us cult memes. It turns out that not everyone knows the origin
of some memes. Follow the link and watch.
That's all we wanted to tell you
about Nicolas Cage. Like this video, and stay with Biographer - many more
fascinating stories are waiting for you. Bye!
