Nicolas Cage: «At 60 I have decided: I’m saying goodbye to cinema»

CLet’s start with his stage name: Nicolas Cage, borrowed from Marvel Comics comic book superhero Luke Cage (one of the first African-American superheroes, when Marvel was not yet of global dominance and success). Born Nicolas Kim Coppola, he belongs to a distinguished Californian dynasty that brings together an impressive number of talents: Uncle Francy (this is how he addresses his uncle Francis Ford); her actress aunt Talia Shire (seen in The Godfather and Rocky); his father August, professor of literature, writer and promoter of the arts; grandfather Carmine, flautist and composer. As well as brothers and cousins ​​like Sofia Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and young Gia. All multiple nominated and awarded.

Nicolas Cage prefers to be called “thespian”

With that fictitious name “Nick” wanted to create a mythology in his image and likeness. And he succeeded. There is no such thing as an actor today – curiously he prefers to use the term of Greek origin thespian («Actor is synonymous with liar, liar, and I don’t pretend, if anything I look for the truth» he explains) – who has so fiercely courted the anti-conventional and dissected every form of acting, from the sublime The orchid thief by Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman a Wild Heart by David Lynch, to the romantic comedy (Bewitched by the moon), from action blockbusters like The Rock, Con Air And Face/Off – Two faces of a killer to the many B films that went straight to video. And that he regularly worked with some of the most original directors of his time, including the Coen brothers and Francis Ford Coppola.

Personal life, then, is equally unique, varied and full of risky experiences or experiments that reflect the different changes in style, differences in mood and phases of its evolution. He has married five times (his wives also include Patricia Arquette and Lisa-Marie Presley) and he is now happily married to the young Japanese Riko Shibata.

Father of three children, with his work as an actor he made hundreds of millions of dollars only to lose it all and end up bankrupt. He has collected property of all kinds (including two islands in the Bahamas and a gothic castle), countless exotic animals, a cobra, even an octopus and extraordinary memorabilia such as a dinosaur skull. Today he is content with kittens and a crow still remains his favorite puppy. A cult, in short, in every way. An incurable eccentric, with a career spanning at least a hundred films, an extremely serious actor, with a varied number of awards and even an Oscar (for Out of Las Vegas), for a few years at the beginning of 2000 it also went “viral” on the internet. I remember the title: «Nicolas Cage Losing It», Nicolas Cage loses his mind, which accompanied a collage of horror or histrionic images taken from different films and edited without any logical criterion. They then became memes, transforming him into one of the first officially “memeified” stars. He was surprised, frustrated but in the end – he says – also somehow stimulated by so many critical challenges, and when he read the script for the first time Dream Scenario-Have you ever dreamed of this man? he had no doubt: that man was him.

“An exaggerated version of myself”

In this comedy with a dark and melancholy side, written and directed by the Norwegian Kristoffer Borgli, a biology professor – underrated and ineffective – suddenly begins to appear in the dreams of strangers around the world and become a celebrity. «The film is an interesting analysis of fame and its dehumanizing effects – he explains to me – and shows how the internet has changed the relationship between us and the outside world. Here, how about Mr. C’s talent I play an exaggerated version of myself.”

Cage – White T-shirt under an open lobster blouse, the unmistakable soft voice – he gets passionate when you ask him about dramatic art, he is kind and generous in his answers, direct, always candid. You don’t expect it from a star of his caliber, considered by many to be the most brilliant and versatile actor of his generation. In Dream Scenario the protagonist is defined as a “remarkable nobody”, a solemn nobody: frankly, it doesn’t seem like him… «And yes» is the immediate answer. «I identify with Paul in every way! And I can reveal to you, in this regard, that my resolution at the beginning of 2024 was to stop searching for my name on Google».

Nicolas Cage in a moment of grace

The time has come for Cage to say goodbye to cinema. «Why now? I feel like I’ve said everything I wanted to say. I took cinematic performance to its extreme, I explored every parameter and angle, I pushed myself as far as I could go, and now I want to try something new and different, which doesn’t take me away from my family. My life experience has inevitably dragged me in this direction.” His three recent works – all self-referential (in addition to the already mentioned The talent of Mr. C And Dream Scenario, there is Pig – Rob’s plandirected by Michael Sarnoski) – have gloriously brought Cage back into the spotlight, and he is having a moment of grace.

The actor is happy to talk about his family again. The father’s name August is a frequent reference. When I tell him that years ago I spent an afternoon with him at the Exploratorium of the San Francisco Museum and that I was struck by his creative inspiration, his enthusiasm, his taste for elegant speech, which I now recognize in his son, Nick is almost moved . «I’m so happy to hear him say this, this is a great interview finale for me, it warms my heart. Thank you for sharing this memory with me.”

“Will I go to the theater? Or on TV?”

In conclusion he adds: «I still have some films to make under contract, then I would like to move on to another medium, perhaps theatre, perhaps television. I have just turned 60, I have fifteen years of life ahead of me if I follow the model of my father, who died at 75. My daughter is just over a year old and I want to dedicate myself to her, and watch her grow. In the end I will do like Gioachino Rossini: I will drink good wine, eat spaghetti and watch the sea.” At the idea, she smiles.

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