Nicolas Cage is a bit of an enigma who offers bizarre, one-off details of his life which just makes you want to know more. Cage’s next film, The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent hits theaters next month, and as the release gets closer, we are offered more in-depth glimpses into Cage’s mind through his wonderfully candid interviews. And there are so many questions!
In his cover story with GQ, Cage ‘explained it all,’ by saying everything he has done is always on purpose. “I had some moments that I went off and did some wild stuff, but a lot of that was by design,” the actor told the mag. “I think many people in the public got swept up with an idea of me being kind of a wild madman, which was fun in the beginning.”
Cage insists that he’s actually very down-to-earth: “The misconception that I’m crazy, which people seem to enjoy, the madman or whatever—to which I simply say you can’t survive 43 years in Hollywood or star in over 120 movies if you’re crazy. You’re not going to get bonded. They’re not going to work with you,” he says, adding, “You’ve got to be healthy. My doctor says I have the liver of a 13-year-old choir boy, you know.” We didn’t know, but now we do!
Despite his shenanigans, Cage is also a talented actor who just wants to act, saying he wanted to make “every movie as if it were his last.” Death seems to be on Cage’s mind a lot, and it wouldn’t be a Nic Cage interview without a spectacular story, as he recalls bringing his father’s ashes through security after his death. “Now I’m like a live wire. I don’t want anything to go wrong. I’ve got to accomplish this. And I’m in full-on grief.” When asked to be inspected by security, Cage insists, “No, it’s my dad. It’s not a bomb. It’s my dad.”
Finally, when asked if he would want to host Saturday Night Live, Cage didn’t seem that into it. He has only hosted the show once in 1996, but he has made cameos over the years, most famously alongside Andy Samberg’s impression of his National Treasure persona. Cage revealed the show has asked him to appear this spring, though he seemed on the fence about it. “I feel like saying, ‘Well, why don’t you call Andy Samberg? I mean, I hear he’s available.’” Maybe to be fair the two should host together.