Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964),
known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the
Coppola family
The Coppola family () is an Italian-American family of filmmakers and performing artists.
Family tree
Academy Awards
The lineal descendants of Carmine Coppola and Italia Pennino have been nominated 2 ...
, he is the recipient of
various accolades, including an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, a
Screen Actors Guild Award and a
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
.
In the first few years of his career, he starred in a variety of films such as ''
Valley Girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, ...
'' (1983), ''
Peggy Sue Got Married
''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high sch ...
'' (1986), ''
Raising Arizona
''Raising Arizona'' is a 1987 American crime comedy film directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, ...
'' (1987), ''
Moonstruck
''Moonstruck'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. The film follows L ...
'' (1987) and ''
Wild at Heart'' (1990). During this period, John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36 listed him as one of 12 ''Promising New Actors of 1984''. For his performance in ''
Leaving Las Vegas
''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having ...
'' (1995), he won the
Academy Award for Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
.
He subsequently appeared in more mainstream films, including ''
The Rock'' (1996), ''
Con Air
''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a ...
'' (1997), ''
Face/Off
''Face/Off'' is a 1997 American science fiction action thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.
The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creativ ...
'' (1997), ''
City of Angels'' (1998), ''
Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), ''
The Family Man
''The Family Man'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brett Ratner, from a screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, with Don Cheadle, Saul Rubinek, and Jeremy ...
'' (2000), ''
Windtalkers
''Windtalkers'' is a 2002 American war film directed and co-produced by John Woo, starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, and Christian Slater. It is based on the real story of Navajo code talkers during ...
'' (2002), the
''National Treasure'' film series (2004–2007), ''
Lord of War
''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage.
The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and grosse ...
'' (2005), ''
The Wicker Man
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...
'' (2006), ''
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider.
The first s ...
'' (2007) and ''
Knowing'' (2009). He received his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as
Charlie and Donald Kaufman in ''
Adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
'' (2002). Between the 2010s and the 2020s, he starred in ''
Kick-Ass'' (2010),
''
Joe
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
'' (2013), ''
Mandy'' (2018), ''
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' (2018) and ''
Pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
'' (2021), roles that increased his popularity and solidified his
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
Cage owns the production company
Saturn Films
Nicolas Cage is an American actor and producer who began his acting career in 1981 with a role in the television pilot '' The Best of Times''. The following year, Cage made his feature film acting debut in ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', the ...
and has produced films such as ''
Shadow of the Vampire
''Shadow of the Vampire'' is a 2000 independent
meta period horror comedy film directed by E. Elias Merhige, written by Steven Katz, and starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. It is a fictionalized account of the making of the classi ...
'' (2000) and ''
The Life of David Gale
''The Life of David Gale'' is a 2003 dramatic crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph. The film is an international co-production, between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was Parker's final ...
'' (2003). He also directed ''
Sonny'' (2002), for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at
Deauville Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival (french: Festival du cinéma américain de Deauville, link=no) is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Cho ...
. In October 1997, he was ranked No. 40 in
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
magazine's ''The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time'' list; and the next year he was placed No. 37 in ''
Premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
''s 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood.
Early life and family
Cage was born in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
, to
August Coppola, a professor of literature, and Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer. He was raised in a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
family. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of German and Polish ancestry.
His paternal grandparents were composer
Carmine Coppola and actress
Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from
Bernalda
Bernalda ( Metapontino: or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Matera, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. The frazione of Metaponto is the site of the ancient city of Metapontum.
Until the 15th century, it was called Cam ...
,
Basilicata
it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
...
.
Through his father, he is a nephew of director
Francis Ford Coppola and of actress
Talia Shire
Talia Rose Shire ( née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress who played roles as Connie Corleone in ''The Godfather'' films and Adrian Balboa in the ''Rocky'' series. For her work in ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''Rocky'', Shir ...
, and a cousin of directors
Roman Coppola
Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965) is an American director, screenwriter, producer and the son of Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola. For the 2012 film ''Moonrise Kingdom'', he and co-writer Wes Anderson were nominated for the ...
and
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...
, film producer
Gian-Carlo Coppola
Gian-Carlo Coppola (September 17, 1963 – May 26, 1986) was an American film producer and actor. He was the oldest child of set decorator/artist Eleanor Coppola ( née Neil) and film director Francis Ford Coppola, and brother to screenwriter ...
, and actors
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
and
Jason Schwartzman
Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician.
Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' (2 ...
.
Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality
Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director
Christopher Coppola
Christopher R. Coppola (born January 25, 1962) is an American film director and producer.
Early life
Coppola was born in Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as ...
. He attended
Beverly Hills High School
Beverly Hills High School (usually abbreviated as Beverly or as BHHS) is the only major public high school in Beverly Hills, California. The other public high school in Beverly Hills, Moreno High School, is a small alternative school located on B ...
,
which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...
. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of ''
Golden Boy''.
He said he started acting because he "wanted to be
James Dean
James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...
. I saw him in ''
Rebel Without a Cause
''Rebel Without a Cause'' is a 1955 American coming-of-age drama film about emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers. Filmed in the then recently introduced CinemaScope format and directed by Nicholas Ray, it offered both social com ...
'', ''
East of Eden''. Nothing affected me—no rock song, no classical music—the way Dean affected me in ''Eden''. It blew my mind. I was like, 'That's what I want to do'."
At fifteen years old he tried to convince his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, to give him a
screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...
, telling him "I'll show you acting." His outburst was met with "silence in the car".
By this stage of his career, Coppola had already directed
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
,
Al Pacino,
Gene Hackman and
Robert De Niro. Although early in his career Cage appeared in some of his uncle's films, he changed his name to Nicolas Cage to avoid the appearance of
nepotism
Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
as Coppola's nephew. His choice of name was inspired by the
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
superhero
Luke Cage
Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...
and composer
John Cage.
Career
1981–1988: Early work and breakthrough
Cage made his acting debut in the 1981 television pilot ''
The Best of Times'', which was never picked up by
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.
His film debut followed in 1982, with a minor role as an unnamed co-worker of
Judge Reinhold
Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who has starred in several Hollywood movies, such as '' Ruthless People'', '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', '' Stripes'' and '' Gremlins'', and co-starred in all of the ...
's character in the
coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
film ''
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling (in her feature directorial debut), from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story ...
'', having originally auditioned for Reinhold's part.
His experience on the film was marred by cast members endlessly quoting his uncle's films, which inspired him to change his name.
Cage's first starring role came opposite
Deborah Foreman
Deborah Lynn Foreman (born October 12, 1962) is an American photographer and actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role in the 1983 film ''Valley Girl'' opposite Nicolas Cage. She is also regarded as a scream queen and known for ...
in the romantic comedy ''
Valley Girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, ...
'' (1983), in which he played a
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
who falls in love with the titular
valley girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, ...
, a plot loosely inspired by ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
''.
The film was a modest box office success and has been branded a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
.
He auditioned for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film ''
The Outsiders'', based on
S.E. Hinton
Susan Eloise Hinton (born July 22, 1948) is an American writer best known for her young-adult novels (YA) set in Oklahoma, especially '' The Outsiders'' (1967), which she wrote during high school. Hinton is credited with introducing the YA gen ...
's
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
, but lost to
Matt Dillon
Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination.
Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...
.
Cage, however, would co-star in Coppola's adaptation of another Hinton novel, ''
Rumble Fish
''Rumble Fish'' is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1975 novel '' Rumble Fish'' by S. E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. The film stars Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Vincent Spa ...
'', in that year.
In 1984, Cage appeared in three period films, none of which fared well at the box office. In the drama, ''
Racing with the Moon
''Racing with the Moon'' is a 1984 American drama film starring Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, and Nicolas Cage. It was directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Steve Kloves. The original music score was composed by Dave Grusin.
The film's t ...
'' (1984), Cage featured opposite
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
as friends who are awaiting deployment to the
U.S. Marine Corps.
Coppola's crime drama ''
The Cotton Club'' saw him play a fictionalized version of mob hitman
Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, earning praise from critic
Paul Attanasio
Paul Albert Attanasio (born November 14, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film and television producer. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for ''Quiz Show (film), Quiz Show'' (1994) and ''Donnie ...
for "artully
sing
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
his few moments to sketch a brawny, violent thug".
His final release of the year was
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...
's drama ''
Birdy'', in which he starred with
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
as two close friends and their trauma inflicted by serving in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. Cage lost weight for the role and had two of his front teeth pulled out to appear disfigured.
Despite massively underperforming at the box office, the film, and Cage and Modine's performances, received positive reviews, with ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' critic
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
writing, "Mr. Cage very sympathetically captures Al's urgency and frustration. Together, these actors work miracles with what might have been unplayable."
In 1986, Cage starred in the little-seen Canadian sports drama ''
The Boy in Blue'' and his uncle's fantasy comedy ''
Peggy Sue Got Married
''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high sch ...
'' (1987) as the husband to
Kathleen Turner's character, who has
travelled back in time to their high school days.
He then starred in the
Coen brothers
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
' crime comedy ''
Raising Arizona
''Raising Arizona'' is a 1987 American crime comedy film directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, ...
'' (1987) as a dim-witted ex-con.
Cage's biggest breakthrough came in 1987 with the romantic comedy ''
Moonstruck
''Moonstruck'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. The film follows L ...
'', in which he starred alongside
Cher
Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...
as a hot-tempered baker who falls in love with his estranged brother's widowed fiancé.
The film was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning Cage a
Golden Globe nomination for
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
In his retrospective review,
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote that he felt Cage's performance was worthy of an
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
.
1989–1994: Career slump
In 1989, Cage starred in the black comedy ''
Vampire's Kiss
''Vampire's Kiss'' is a 1988 American black comedy horror film directed by Robert Bierman and written by Joseph Minion. Starring Nicolas Cage, María Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, and Elizabeth Ashley, the film tells the story of a literary ...
'' as a man who falls in love with a
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
and soon begins to believe he himself is a vampire. The film was a major box office flop, but has developed a cult following largely due to Cage's surrealistic and over-the-top performance appearing in
internet memes
An Internet meme, commonly known simply as a meme ( ), is an idea, behavior, style, or image that is spread via the Internet, often through social media platforms. What is considered a meme may vary across different communities on the Internet ...
. Critic
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
felt the film was "dominated and destroyed by Mr. Cage's chaotic, self-indulgent performance". After filming the Italian drama ''
Time to Kill'' (1989) in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, he starred in
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
's romantic crime film ''
Wild at Heart'' (1990) with
Laura Dern
Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.
Born to actor Bruce Dern and ac ...
as a pair of lovers on the run from gangsters hired to kill Cage's character "Sailor" Ripley. Cage was drawn to the project because he was "always attracted to those passionate, almost unbridled romantic characters" and it allowed him to impersonate one of his heroes,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
, in scenes in which Sailor sings.
''Wild at Heart'' received mixed reviews upon release, despite controversially winning the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at
1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Cage would reunite with Lynch and Dern for the
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
concert performance ''
Industrial Symphony No. 1
''Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted'' is a 1990 avant-garde concert performance directed by David Lynch, with music by Angelo Badalamenti and Julee Cruise. It stars Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Michael J. Anderson, and Crui ...
''.
Also in 1990, he starred as a helicopter pilot in the action film ''
Fire Birds
''Fire Birds'' (released under the alternative title ''Wings of the Apache'') is a 1990 American military action film directed by David Green and produced by William Badalato, Keith Barish and Arnold Kopelson. The storyline was conceived by retir ...
'', which was panned by critics and negatively compared to ''
Top Gun'' (1986).
Cage's next film, the erotic thriller ''
Zandalee
''Zandalee'' is a 1991 American erotic thriller/romantic tragedy directed by Sam Pillsbury and starring Nicolas Cage, Judge Reinhold, Erika Anderson, Viveca Lindfors, Aaron Neville, Joe Pantoliano and Steve Buscemi. The screenplay by Mari Kornhau ...
'' (1991), was released
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...
in the United States, where it did not receive a theatrical release.
His "goofy '
everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
'" performance in the romantic comedy ''
Honeymoon in Vegas
''Honeymoon in Vegas'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Plot
Private Detective ("Private eye") Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) swore to hi ...
'' (1992) garnered some positive critical notices,
including from Roger Ebert, who defended Cage amidst some critics finding his acting "excessive" and earned Cage his second Gloden Globe nomination.
He hosted an episode of the variety show ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' to promote the film, his only time hosting the show.
None of Cage's three films in 1993—''
Deadfall'' (directed by his brother
Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
), ''
Amos & Andrew
''Amos & Andrew'' is a 1993 American black comedy film directed and written by E. Max Frye and starring Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson. The film's title parodies that of the sitcom ''Amos 'n' Andy'' while the premise also appears to be a riff ...
'' and ''
Red Rock West
''Red Rock West'' is a 1993 American neo-noir thriller film directed by John Dahl and starring Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, J. T. Walsh, and Dennis Hopper. It was written by Dahl and his brother Rick, and shot in Montana, Willcox, Arizona, S ...
''—performed well at the box office; though the last-mentioned neo-noir thriller in which he played a drifter mistaken for a hitman was lauded by critics.
The comedy ''
Guarding Tess
''Guarding Tess'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film starring Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage, directed by Hugh Wilson. MacLaine plays a fictional former First Lady protected by an entourage of Secret Service agents led by one she continua ...
'' (1994) paired Cage with
Shirley MacLaine as a
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
agent protecting a former
First Lady
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...
; however, it was dismissed as being derivative by some critics.
He next starred alongside
Bridget Fonda in the romantic comedy ''
It Could Happen to You'' as a cash-strapped police officer who offers to share his lottery winnings with a waitress and then the much-criticized box office flop Christmas comedy ''
Trapped in Paradise
''Trapped in Paradise'' is a 1994 American Christmas-themed crime comedy film written and directed by George Gallo and starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey.
Plot
At Christmas time, New York City convicts Dave and Alvin Firpo are par ...
'' with the ''Saturday Night Live'' actors
Jon Lovitz
Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in '' The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in '' A League of ...
and
Dana Carvey
Dana Thomas Carvey (born June 2, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his seven seasons as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1986 to 1993, which earned him fiv ...
.
According to Lovitz, Cage directed portions of the film because its director,
George Gallo
George Gallo Jr. (born January 1, 1956) is an American screenwriter, film director, producer, painter and musician.
He is known for writing ''Midnight Run'' and '' 29th Street'', and is an accomplished painter in the style of the Pennsylvania ...
, offered little direction.
1995–2003: Critical success and action star
Cage's performance as a psychopathic criminal kingpin in the crime film ''
Kiss of Death'' (1995) was seen by many critics as the film strongpoint,
but his most acclaimed performance yet came in the drama ''
Leaving Las Vegas
''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having ...
'' as an alcoholic screenwriter who falls in love with a prostitute in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. The role won Cage the
Academy Award for Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
and
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama is a Golden Globe Award that was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951. Previously, there was a single award for "Best Actor i ...
. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter
Charlie Kaufman
Charles Stuart Kaufman (; born November 19, 1958) is an American filmmaker and novelist. He wrote the films '' Being John Malkovich'' (1999), '' Adaptation'' (2002), and '' Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' (2004). He made his directorial ...
and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in ''
Adaptation.
''Adaptation'' is a 2002 American meta comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It features an ensemble cast including Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper, with Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, ...
''
Other Cage films included
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
's 1999 New York City paramedic drama ''
Bringing Out the Dead
''Bringing Out the Dead'' is a 1999 American psychological drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, based on the novel of the same name by Joe Connelly. It stars Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, V ...
''
and
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
's 2003 black comedy crime film ''
Matchstick Men
''Matchstick Men'' is a 2003 black comedy film directed by Ridley Scott and based on Eric Garcia's 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman. The film premiered on September 2, 2003 at the 60th Venic ...
'', in which he played a con artist with
obsessive–compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly to the extent where it induces distress or impairs general ...
.
Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. These include ''
The Rock'', in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pri ...
in the hope of neutralizing a terrorist threat,
''
Con Air
''Con Air'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Simon West and starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. Written by Scott Rosenberg and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the film centers on a prison break aboard a ...
'', a film where he plays a former army ranger who has to stop hijackers on an airplane,
''
Face/Off
''Face/Off'' is a 1997 American science fiction action thriller film directed by John Woo, written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.
The first Hollywood film in which Woo was given major creativ ...
'', a
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun ...
film where he plays both a hero and a villain,
''
Gone in 60 Seconds'', with Cage as a retired car thief,
and ''
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
'', director
Oliver Stone's film about the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
.
The suspense thriller ''
8mm'' (1999) is considered a cult film.
He took the lead role in the 2001 film ''
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
''Captain Corelli's Mandolin'', released simultaneously in the United States as ''Corelli's Mandolin'', is a 1994 novel by the British writer Louis de Bernières, set on the Greek island of Cephalonia during the Italian and German occupatio ...
'' and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part.
He made his directorial debut with 2002's ''
Sonny''.
2004–2011: Franchise films
![Nicolas Cage - 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Nicolas_Cage_-_66%C3%A8me_Festival_de_Venise_%28Mostra%29.jpg)
In his second-highest-grossing film to date, ''
National Treasure
The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the funda ...
'', he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
.
In 2005, two films he headlined, ''
Lord of War
''Lord of War'' is a 2005 American crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Andrew Niccol, and co-produced by and starring Nicolas Cage.
The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005, to positive reviews and grosse ...
'' and ''
The Weather Man
''The Weather Man'' is a 2005 American dark comedy-drama film directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Steve Conrad, and starring Nicolas Cage in the lead role, Michael Caine and Hope Davis. It tells the story of a weatherman in the midst of a m ...
'',
failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his performances.
The 2006 remake of ''
The Wicker Man
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...
'' was very poorly reviewed, and failed to make back its $40 million budget.
The much-criticized ''
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider is the name of multiple antiheroes and superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Marvel had previously used the name for a Western character whose name was later changed to Phantom Rider.
The first s ...
'' (2007), based on the
Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007.
Also in 2007, he had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind
Dr. Fu Manchu in
Rob Zombie's fake trailer ''Werewolf Women of the S.S.'' from the
B-movie
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
double feature
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
''
Grindhouse
A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a fil ...
''
and starred in ''
Next
Next may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare
* ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage
* '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film
Lit ...
'', which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film,
''
The Family Man
''The Family Man'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brett Ratner, from a screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, with Don Cheadle, Saul Rubinek, and Jeremy ...
'' (2000).
In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a ''
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
'' wrestling show in New York City researching for the lead role for ''
The Wrestler The Wrestler may refer to:
* ''The Wrestler'' (1974 film), an American film directed by James A. Westman
* ''The Wrestler'' (2008 film), an American film directed by Darren Aronofsky
* "The Wrestler" (song), a song from the 2008 film written and ...
''. However, Cage dropped out of production shortly afterward because he felt that he did not have enough time to prepare for the role and director
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Arono ...
preferred
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
for the lead role. Rourke would go on to receive an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
In an interview with /Film, Aronofsky said of Cage's decision to leave the film that "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race."
In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film ''
Bangkok Dangerous''. The film is shot by the
Pang Brothers
Danny Pang Phat and Oxide Pang Chun, collectively known as the Pang Brothers, are a filmmaking duo of screenwriters and film directors. The pair are twins, born in Hong Kong in 1965. Among their films is the hit Asian horror film, '' The Eye'' ...
and has a distinctly South-East Asian flavor.
In 2009, Cage starred in the science fiction thriller ''
Knowing'', directed by
Alex Proyas
Alexander Proyas (; Greek: Αλέξανδρος Πρόγιας; born 23 September 1963) is an Australian filmmaker of Greek descent. Proyas is best known for directing the films '' The Crow'' (1994), '' Dark City'' (1998), ''I, Robot'' (2004), ...
. In the film, he plays an
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that has already come true lead him to believe that the world is going to end at the close of the week and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction.
The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend.
Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film ''
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'', directed by acclaimed German director
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...
.
He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
.
Cage was lauded for his performance, with
Michael Phillips of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest."
This film reunited Cage with
Eva Mendes
Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...
, who played his love interest in ''Ghost Rider''.
In 2010, Cage starred in ''
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (german: "Der Zauberlehrling", link=no, italic=no) is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in 14 stanzas.
Story
The poem begins as an old sorcerer departs his workshop, leaving ...
'', in which he played the sorcerer, and the next year, headlined the period piece ''
Season of the Witch'', as a 14th-century knight transporting a woman accused of causing the
Black Plague to a monastery.
In 2011, Cage reprised his role in ''Ghost Rider's'' sequel ''
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.''
2012–2019: Prolificity and direct-to-video films
![Nicholas Cage(1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Nicholas_Cage%281%29.jpg)
He voiced the character Grug Crood in the animated film ''The Croods'', which was released in 2013. ''The Croods'' received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success grossing $585 million against a budget of $135 million.
In the same year he starred as main character in ''
The Frozen Ground
''The Frozen Ground'' is a 2013 American thriller film directed and written by Scott Walker, in his directorial debut, starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Vanessa Hudgens, Katherine LaNasa, Radha Mitchell, and 50 Cent. Based on the crimes of t ...
'', a
thriller crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
film directed and written by Scott Walker in his
directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
, based on the crimes of real-life Alaskan
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
Robert Hansen
Robert Christian Hansen (February 15, 1939 – August 21, 2014), known in the media as the Butcher Baker, was an American serial killer. Between 1971 and 1983, Hansen abducted, raped, and murdered at least seventeen women in and around Anchora ...
:
The film depicts an Alaskan State Trooper, played by Cage, seeking to apprehend Hansen by partnering with a young woman, who escaped from Hansen's clutches. The film has received mixed reviews though Cage's performance was cited as a highlight and solid.
In 2013 he also starred in ''
Joe
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
'', an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed and co-produced by
David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green is an American filmmaker. He directed the dramas ''George Washington'' (2000), '' All the Real Girls'' (2003), and '' Snow Angels'' (2007), as well as the thriller '' Undertow'' (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote.
In ...
, adaptation from
Larry Brown's 1991 novel of the same name. In this film Nicolas Cage is a tormented man who hires a 15-year-old boy (played by
Tye Sheridan
Tye Kayle Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for playing the young Scott Summers / Cyclops in the reboot ''X-Men'' film series (2016–2019), as well as Wade Watts in ''Ready Player One'' (2 ...
) and protects him from his abusive father. The film premiered at the
70th Venice International Film Festival
The 70th annual Venice International Film Festival took place in Venice, Italy from 28 August to 7 September 2013. American film director William Friedkin was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Italian film director Bernardo Bertoluc ...
on August 30, 2013,
with a subsequent screening at the
2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. '' The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and '' Life of Crime'' was the closing film. 75 films were ...
.
It was a
box office flop
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing only $2.36 million from a $4 million budget, but received critical acclaim from critics, who praised Cage's performance and Green's direction.
The 2016 black comedy ''
Dog Eat Dog'', Cage's second film with
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...
, reunited him with
Willem Dafoe
Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...
(after ''
Wild at Heart'') as a pair of ex-convicts hired to kidnap a baby. The film had its premiere as the closing entry for the
Directors' Fortnight
The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...
section at the
2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2016. It was released on November 4, 2016, in the United States.
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, writing, "It's the right director for the right project and the result is Schrader's best for years: a lairy, nasty, tasty crime thriller built on black-comic chaos."
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote, "A rare film to have been shot in Cleveland, ''Dog Eat Dog'' definitely looks like it was shot on the cheap but puts what it needs to up on the screen with vigor and wit."
Cage starred alongside
Selma Blair
Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film '' Brown's Requiem'' (1998). Her breakthrough came when she s ...
and
Anne Winters in
Brian Taylor's
horror comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
, ''
Mom and Dad'',
which premiered in the Midnight Madness section at the
2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It was released in theaters on January 19, 2018,
and received positive reviews from critics, with
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
defining his performance as "over-the-top."
Director
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
appreciated the film, naming ''Mom and Dad'' as one of the best movies of 2018, placing it fourth on his personal top list.
In 2018, Cage starred in the action thriller film ''
Mandy'',
which premiered on January 19 at the
2018 Sundance Film Festival.
Nick Allen of
RogerEbert.com praised the movie, writing that "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 October, Mandy's producer
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his portrayal of Frodo Baggins in the ''Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003) and '' The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'' (2012).
Wood ...
announced the intention to sizing up an Oscar campaign for Nicolas Cage and for composer
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson (; 19 September 1969 – 9 February 2018) was an Icelandic composer who wrote music for a wide array of media including theatre, dance, television, and film. His work is stylised by its blending of traditional orchest ...
(who died in February of that year) but the film was disqualified because it was also released on VOD on September 14.
Later that year, Cage voiced Superman in the animated film ''
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
''Teen Titans Go! To the Movies'' is a 2018 American animated superhero comedy film based on the television series ''Teen Titans Go!'', which is based on the DC Comics superhero team of the same name. This film is directed by Peter Rida Mi ...
''. He had originally been slated to portray Superman in
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...
's canceled Superman film, ''
Superman Lives'', in the 1990s.
He voiced an alternate
monochromatic 1930s universe version of
Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir in ''
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' (2018). Cage based his vocal performance on films of
Humphrey Bogart,
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...
, and
Edward G. Robinson.
On January 28, 2019, Viktor and Irina Yelchin premiered a documentary about their son
Anton Yelchin, ''
Love, Antosha'', at the
2019 Sundance Film Festival.
The documentary was directed by Garret Price and contains various interviews with some of Anton's friends and collaborators like
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart (born April 9, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2012, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a César Award, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...
,
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...
,
Chris Pine
Chris Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–present), Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017) and '' Wo ...
,
Jennifer Lawrence,
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, three British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the ho ...
,
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the '' Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian A ...
and
Martin Landau
Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...
. Cage starred as the Narrator of the film, reading various Anton's writings.
![Festival de cinema de Sitges 2018 (30240292207)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Festival_de_cinema_de_Sitges_2018_%2830240292207%29.jpg)
In December 2018, it was announced that Cage had signed to play the lead role for
Richard Stanley's
''Color Out of Space'', based on the
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
"
The Colour Out of Space
"The Colour Out of Space" is a science fiction/horror short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in March 1927. In the tale, an unnamed narrator pieces together the story of an area known by the locals as the "blasted heath" ...
" by
H. P. Lovecraft. This was Stanley's first feature film directed since his firing from ''
The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1996). ''Color Out of Space'' premiered on September 7, 2019, in the Midnight Madness portion of the
2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where Cage was awarded for his role with the Creative Coalition's Spotlight Initiative Award. Following select preview screenings on January 22, the film was released in 81 theaters in the United States on January 24, 2020.
In December 2018, it was announced that
Sion Sono
Sion may refer to
* an alternative transliteration of Zion
People
* Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name
Plac ...
was working on his first overseas production and English-language debut, ''
Prisoners of the Ghostland
''Prisoners of the Ghostland'' is a 2021 American horror Western film directed by Sion Sono, from a script by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai. It stars Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, and Bill Moseley. Its plot revolves around a notorious crimi ...
'', starring Nicolas Cage. Cage defined the film "might be the wildest movie I've ever made."
Its plot revolves around a notorious criminal, Hero (played by Cage), who is sent to rescue the governor's adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland. The film had its world premiere at the
2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021.
2020–present: Career resurgence
In May 2020 it was announced that Cage would be playing the role of
Joe Exotic
Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage ( né Schreibvogel; born March 5, 1963), known professionally as Joe Exotic and nicknamed "The Tiger King," is an American media personality, businessman, and convicted felon who operated the Greater Wynnewood Ex ...
in a scripted eight-episode
Tiger King
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...
series, written and executive produced by
Dan Lagana
Dan Lagana is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the TV series ''Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous'' on MTV and for serving as showrunner on the Netflix series ''American Vandal''. He has won a Peabody Award.
...
. It was announced that the project was scrapped in July 2021.
In April 2013,
DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...
announced a sequel to the film ''
The Croods
''The Croods'' is a 2013 American computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was written and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders, and stars the voices of Nicol ...
''. In September 2013, it was confirmed that Nicolas Cage would reprise his role in the sequel as Grug from the first film. ''
The Croods: A New Age'', directed by
Joel Crawford, was released theatrically in the United States on November 25, 2020.
Cage produced and starred in the 2021 film ''
Pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
'', and received critical acclaim for his performance. He gained further acclaim for portraying a fictionalized version of himself in the 2022 action comedy film ''
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent''.
In November 2021, Cage was cast in the
Universal Classic Monsters
Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially concei ...
spin-off film, ''
Renfield
R. M. Renfield is a fictional character who appears in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''.[ ...](_blank)
''. Cage will feature in a supporting role, to
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His List of roles and awards of Nicholas Hoult, body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in Independent film, independent p ...
's titular R.M. Renfield, as
Dracula. The film will be directed by
Chris McKay
Christopher McKay, also known as Chris Taylor (born November 11, 1973), is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing and editing three seasons of '' Robot Chicken'' and two seasons of '' Moral Orel''. He made his feature directoria ...
, with a script by Ryan Ridley, from an original story by
Robert Kirkman. McKay and Kirkman will also produce the feature film alongside David Alpert, Bryan Furst and Sean Furst. The project will be a joint-venture production between
Skybound Entertainment
Skybound Entertainment is an American multiplatform entertainment company founded by Robert Kirkman and David Alpert.
History
Skybound Entertainment is the company behind the long-running comic, '' The Walking Dead'', created by Robert Kirkman. ...
, and
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
.
Principal photography began in early 2022.
Producing and directing
Cage made his directorial debut in 2002 with ''
Sonny'', a low-budget drama starring
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-M ...
as a male prostitute whose mother (
Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theaters.
Cage's producing career includes ''
Shadow of the Vampire
''Shadow of the Vampire'' is a 2000 independent
meta period horror comedy film directed by E. Elias Merhige, written by Steven Katz, and starring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. It is a fictionalized account of the making of the classi ...
'', the first effort from Saturn Films.
In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On ''
The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/ mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books.
The books are wr ...
'' for the
Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. ...
, Cage is listed as the executive producer.
Other work
Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through
Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, mu ...
for over $1.6 million in 2002.
In 2007, he created a comic book with his son Weston, called ''
Voodoo Child'', which was published by
Virgin Comics
Liquid Comics is an Indian comic book Publishers company, founded in 2006 as Virgin Comics LLC, which produced stories (many of which are Indian-culture related) for an international audience. The company was founded by Sir Richard Branson and his ...
.
Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist
Robert Williams. He has written introductions for ''
Juxtapoz
''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and Eric ...
'' magazine and purchased the painting ''Death on the Boards''.
Reception and acting style
In February 2011, Cage said that, at a certain point in his career, he realized that he had developed his own method of acting, which he described as "Nouveau Shamanic." He noted, "at some point I'll have to write a book" about it.
Cage later explained that he drew the inspiration for the name from the book ''The Way of the Actor'' by Brian Bates, in which he read about the parallel between the ancient
shamans
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...
and thespians.
In other interviews, Cage defined his acting style using terms such as
German Expressionism
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
or "Western
kabuki
is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to ...
".
On some occasions, Cage stood up for his extreme
method acting
Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...
. For ''Birdy'', in order to physically feel the pain of his character (a veteran from
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
), Cage removed two teeth, which would have had to be pulled anyway, without any anesthesia. He also spent five weeks with his face wrapped in bandages, receiving brutal reactions by various people for his aspect. When he took the bandages off, his skin was infected because of acne and ingrowing hairs.
''Vampire's Kiss casting director Marcia Shulman declared that Cage asked to have hot yogurt poured over his toes to get excited during a love scene with
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image A ...
. He also studied
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
under the
UFC
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
champion
Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie (; born 12 December 1966) is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist, a UFC Hall of Famer, and a Gracie Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. A member of the Gracie family, he is considered to be one of the most influential figures ...
, for his roles in action films. During an interview of 2013 for promoting ''Joe'', Cage revealed that he followed a diet based on
red meat
In gastronomy, red meat is commonly red when raw and a dark color after it is cooked, in contrast to white meat, which is pale in color before and after cooking. In culinary terms, only flesh from mammals or fowl (not fish) is classified as ...
and
steaks to gain weight for the role and to identify himself as a carnivore.
According to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' film critic Luke Buckmaster, "any casual observer can see that Cage is entertaining, charismatic and wildly flamboyant". Attributing it partly to the "well-cultured" background of Cage's family, Buckmaster said the actor "is clearly attracted to grotesque characters and is celebrated for his wild and unhinged approach to them. He has the presence of a leading man, and the eccentricities of a character actor." Actor
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...
stated in 2013 that Cage is "the only actor since
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
that's actually done anything new with the art", crediting him for taking film audiences "away from an obsession with
naturalism into a kind of presentation style of acting that I imagine was popular with the old troubadours."
Film director
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
described him as "the jazz musician of American acting".
Many critics have accused Cage of
overacting
Overacting (also referred to as hamming or mugging) refers to acting that is exaggerated. Overacting can be viewed positively or negatively. It is sometimes known as "chewing the scenery".
Uses
Some roles require overly-exaggerated character acti ...
.
Others, including Cage himself, have described his intentionally extreme performances as "mega-acting". After the actor's series of mainstream-marketed thriller films during the late 1990s,
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1999 that Cage was "no longer an actor" but "more like a performer".
Despite this, in his speech after winning the Oscar for his performance in ''
Mystic River
The Mystic River is a riverU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 in Massachusetts, in the United States. In Massachusett, means "large estuary," alluding to t ...
'', Penn described Cage's work (in ''
Matchstick Men
''Matchstick Men'' is a 2003 black comedy film directed by Ridley Scott and based on Eric Garcia's 2002 novel of the same name. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman. The film premiered on September 2, 2003 at the 60th Venic ...
'') as one of the best performances of 2003.
During the 2010s, a growing number of film critics described Cage as one of the most underrated actors of his generation.
In July 2021, Cage told ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' that the commercial constraints that were imposed on his performances was the main reason he abandoned Hollywood and that he opted to work for low-budget independent films because it gave him more freedom to experiment and be fluid.
Personal life
Relationships and family
In 1988, Cage began dating actress
Christina Fulton
Christina Fulton (born June 26, 1967) is an American actress.
Career
Fulton has worked as a model with Elite Model Management and with LA Models. She was the face of Farlow Jeans and modeled for the "Too Cute" campaign.
Fulton has had roles in ...
, with whom he has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston has been involved in two
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
bands, and appeared in his father's film ''Lord of War'' as a helicopter mechanic. Through Weston, Cage has two grandsons born in 2014 and 2016.
Cage has been married five times. His first wife was actress
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include '' True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed W ...
, whom he married in April 1995 and divorced in 2001.
Cage's second marriage was to singer and songwriter
Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley (born February 1, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter. She is the only child of singer and actor Elvis Presley and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father's estate. Presley has developed a caree ...
, daughter of
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. (Cage, an Elvis fan, used Elvis as the inspiration for his performance in ''
Wild at Heart''.) They married on August 10, 2002, and filed for divorce 107 days later on November 25, 2002. The divorce was finalized on May 16, 2004.
Cage's third wife was Alice Kim. They were married at a private ranch in northern California on July 30, 2004.
She gave birth to their son Kal-El (after
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
's birth name) on October 3, 2005.
They divorced in January 2016.
In March 2019, Cage married Erika Koike in Las Vegas, only to file for annulment four days later. He was granted a divorce from Koike three months later.
On February 16, 2021, Cage married Riko Shibata. They announced in January 2022 that they were expecting a child, his third. Their daughter, August Francesca, was born on September 7, 2022.
Political and religious views
Cage grew up in a family of Catholic background, but does not talk about religion publicly and refuses to answer religion-connected questions in his interviews.
When asked about the film ''Knowing'' being a religion-themed film or not, Cage replied, "Any of my personal beliefs or opinions runs the risk of impinging on your own relationship with the movie. I feel movies are best left enigmatic, left raising more questions than answers. I don't want to ever preach. So
hatever you getfrom the movie
sfar more interesting than
nythingI could ever offer."
During his visit to
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...
he stated that he is not a politically active actor and that he can do it in his work as he learned "more about
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
from the movie ''
The China Syndrome
''The China Syndrome'' is a 1979 American disaster thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas (who also produced), Scott Brady, James ...
''".
Cage endorsed
Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and politician. Yang was a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He is the co-c ...
for president during the
2020 election.
Charitable activities
Cage has been called one of the most generous stars in Hollywood.
He donated $2 million to
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
for them to use to offer rehabilitation shelters, medical services and psychological and reintegration services to some of the 300,000 children forced to fight in conflicts across the world.
He has also donated $1 million to the victims of
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
.
He became the first artist to support ArtWorks, an artist engagement program to raise awareness of fundamental rights at work, including freedom from slavery and from child labor.
Cage has also been honored with a Humanitarian award from United Nations for his works and appointed as a UN ambassador for Global Justice in 2009 and again in 2013.
He led a campaign around the film ''Lord of War'' to raise awareness about international arms control, supported "Heal the Bay," the
United Negro College Fund
UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...
efforts, and the
Royal United Hospital
The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care hospital in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a site. It is the area's major accident and emergenc ...
's Forever Friends Appeal to build intensive care units for babies.
Real estate and tax problems
Nicolas Cage was once considered one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', although he failed to make ''Forbes Top 10 List in 2014.
Cage had a
Malibu home where he and Kim lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on
Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a island in the
Exuma
Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays.
The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital ...
archipelago, some southeast of
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
and close to a similar island owned by
Faith Hill
Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide.
Hill' ...
and
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
.
He bought the medieval castle
Schloss Neidstein
Schloss Neidstein is a castle located in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria, Germany, in the municipality of Etzelwang.
It was the seat of a Hofmark (a lower legal entity) during the Palatinate-Sulzbach period (16th–18th centuries). The castle, wit ...
in the
Oberpfalz
The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria.
Geography
The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lakes ...
region in Germany in 2006 and sold it in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in
Cochem an der Mosel.
In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig," a brick-and-stone country manor in
Middletown, Rhode Island
Middletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,075 at the 2020 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown".
History
Vari ...
. With an estate occupying , the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It borders the
Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases.
Also in 2007, Cage purchased
Midford Castle
Midford Castle is a folly castle in the village of Midford, and the parish of Southstoke south of Bath, Somerset, England.
The castle was built in 1775 for Henry Disney Roebuck from designs by John Carter in the shape of the "clubs" symbol u ...
in Somerset, England.
Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put his homes in Rhode Island,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, on the market.
On July 14, 2009, the
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a
federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleged that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007.
In addition, the Internal Revenue Service had another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004.
Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud.
The lawsuit stated that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed
age
Age or AGE may refer to:
Time and its effects
* Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed
** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1
* Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...
in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses.
Cage also faced separate lawsuits from
East West Bank
East West Bank (), the primary subsidiary of East West Bancorp, Inc., is the largest publicly traded bank headquartered in Southern California, United States. It was founded in 1973 in Los Angeles to serve the Chinese American community in Sou ...
and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multi-million dollar loans.
Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences." Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."
In his filing, Levin said that in 2007, Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces), 12 purchases of expensive jewelry, and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items."
One of those items was a dinosaur skull of a ''
Tarbosaurus
''Tarbosaurus'' ( ; meaning "alarming lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid dinosaur that flourished in Asia about 70 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period, considered to contain a single known species, ''Tarbosaurus ba ...
''. After discovering that it was
stolen
Stolen may refer to:
* ''Stolen'' (2009 Australian film), a 2009 Australian film
* ''Stolen'' (2009 American film), a 2009 American film
* ''Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story'' (2010 film), a film based on the real life kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie ...
, he returned it to the Mongolian authorities.
According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America," a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Known as "The LaLaurie House" after its former owner
Delphine LaLaurie
Marie Delphine Macarty or MacCarthy (March 19, 1787 – December 7, 1849), more commonly known as Madame Blanque or, after her third marriage, as Madame LaLaurie, was a New Orleans socialite and serial killer who tortured and murdered Histo ...
, the house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009, along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of Cage's financial problems.
His
Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000, had been owned at different times by
Dean Martin
Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...
and singer
Tom Jones.
The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million.
Another home in Nevada also faced foreclosure auction.
In November 2011, Cage sold his
''Action Comics'' #1 in an online auction managed by
Heritage Auctions
Heritage Auctions is an American multi-national auction house based in Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1976, Heritage is an auctioneer of numismatic collections, comics, fine art, books, luxury accessories, real estate, and memorabilia from film, mu ...
for a record-breaking $2.16 million (the previous record being $1.5 million), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.
The comic had been stolen from him in 2000, and Cage had received an insurance payment on the item. In March 2011, it was found in a storage locker in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
and was verified by ComicConnect.com to be the copy sold to Cage previously. Worth around $25 million by May 2017, Cage was reportedly "taking
ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to:
Acronyms
* Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product
* '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1
* Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets
* Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion ...
roles left and right" in order to pay off his remaining debts.
By 2022, Cage confirmed that he had finally paid off his debts and intended to be more selective with his film roles moving forward.
Legal issues
Kathleen Turner wrote in her 2008 memoir, ''Send Your Roses'', that Cage had stolen a
chihuahua and was arrested twice for
driving drunk
Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of Alcohol (drug), alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash.
In the United States, ...
while they filmed ''
Peggy Sue Got Married
''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high sch ...
''.
Later she admitted Cage did not steal a chihuahua and she was sorry.
Cage won a
libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
action against Turner, her publisher
Headline Publishing Group
Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing brand and former company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson. In 1993, Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton and the company became Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acq ...
and
Associated Newspapers
DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...
(whose publication the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' had repeated the allegations when they published an excerpt from the book).
Christina Fulton
Christina Fulton (born June 26, 1967) is an American actress.
Career
Fulton has worked as a model with Elite Model Management and with LA Models. She was the face of Farlow Jeans and modeled for the "Too Cute" campaign.
Fulton has had roles in ...
sued Cage in December 2009 for $13 million and for the house in which she was living. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling; the order resulted from Cage's financial difficulties.
The case was settled in June 2011.
Cage was arrested in New Orleans'
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...
district on April 15, 2011, for suspicion of domestic abuse
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
, disturbing the peace and public intoxication. A police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.
Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by
Duane "Dog" Chapman.
He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011.
The New Orleans District Attorney announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped on May 5, 2011.
Honors and nominations
![Nicolas Cage Walk of Fame](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Nicolas_Cage_Walk_of_Fame.jpg)
For his contributions to the
film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...
, Cage was inducted into the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
in 1998 with a
motion pictures star located at 7021
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
.
In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by
California State University, Fullerton
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...
. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.
Cage has also been nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
twice. He won an
Academy Award for Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The ...
for his role in the film ''
Leaving Las Vegas
''Leaving Las Vegas'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by Mike Figgis, and based on the semi-autobiographical 1990 novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic in Los Angeles who, having ...
'' in 1995. He was nominated for a second one for his role in the film ''Adaptation'' in 2002.
He also won a
Golden Globe award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
,
Screen Actors Guild award and many more awards for ''Leaving Las Vegas''. He has received nominations by the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and
BAFTA for his films ''Adaptation'', ''Honeymoon in Vegas'' and ''Moonstruck.''
He has also won and been nominated for many other awards.
See also
*
Coppola family tree
The Coppola family () is an Italian-American family of filmmakers and performing artists.
Family tree
Academy Awards
The lineal descendants of Carmine Coppola and Italia Pennino have been nominated 23 ...
*
List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
This is a list of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees in the award categories Acting and Directing.
This list is based on "statistics valid through the nomination announcement for the 2015 (88th Academy Awards), announced on J ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cage, Nicolas
1964 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American film producers
American male film actors
American male voice actors
American people of German descent
American people of Italian descent
American people of Polish descent
Arquette family
Best Actor Academy Award winners
Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
Beverly Hills High School alumni
Coppola family
Film directors from Los Angeles
Internet memes
Male actors from Las Vegas
Male actors from Long Beach, California
Method actors
American Christians
Christians from California
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
Science fiction fans
Pseudonyms