Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Kim Coppola 

7 January 1964

An American actor, director and producer. To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage.

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 received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as an alcoholic Hollywood writer in "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995) before coming to the attention of wider audiences with mainstream films such as "The Rock" (1996), "Face/Off" (1997), "Con Air" (1997), "City of Angels" (1998), and "National Treasure" (2004). He earned his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in "Adaptation" (2002). In 2002, he directed the film "Sonny", for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival. Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as "Shadow of the Vampire" (2000) and "The Life of David Gale" (2003).

As actor, director, producer

• Best of Times (1981)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Valley Girl (1983)
• Rumble Fish (1983)
• Racing with the Moon (1984)
• The Cotton Club (1984)
• Birdy (1984)
• The Boy in Blue (1986)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Moonstruck (1987)
• Never on Tuesday (1988)
• Vampire's Kiss (1989)
• Tempo di uccidere (1990)
• Fire Birds (1990)
• Industrial Symphony No. 1 (1990)
• Wild at Heart (1990)
• Zandalee (1991)
• Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
• Amos & Andrew (1993)
• Deadfall (1993)
• Red Rock West (1994)
• Guarding Tess (1994)
• It Could Happen to You (1994)
• Trapped in Paradise (1994)
• Kiss of Death (1995)
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
• The Rock (1996)
• Con Air (1997)
• Face/Off (1997)
• City of Angels (1998)
• Snake Eyes (1998)
• 8mm (1999)
• Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
• Bel Air (2000)
• Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
• The Family Man (2000)
• Shadow of the Vampire (2001)
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
• Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001)
• Windtalkers (2002)
• Adaptation (2002)
• Sonny (2002)
• The Life of David Gale (2003)
• Matchstick Men (2003)
• National Treasure (2004)
• Lord of War (2005)
• The Weather Man (2005)
• The Ant Bully (2006)
• The Wicker Man (2006)
• World Trade Center (2006)
• Ghost Rider (2007)
• Grindhouse (2007)
• Next (2007)
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
• Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
• Knowing (2009)
• G-Force (2009)
• Astro Boy (2009)
• The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)
• Kick-Ass (2010)
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
• Season of the Witch (2011)
• Drive Angry (2011)
• Trespass (2011)
• Seeking Justice (2011)
• A Thousand Words (2012)
• Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)
• Stolen (2012)
• The Croods (2013)
• The Frozen Ground (2013)
• Joe (2013)
• Rage (2014)
• Outcast (2014)
• Left Behind (2014)
• The Dying of the Light (2014)
• The Runner (2015)
• Pay the Ghost (2015)
• The Trust (2016)
• Snowden (2016)
• USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
• Dog Eat Dog (2016)
• Army of One (2016)
• Arsena (2017)
• Vengeance: A Love Story (2017)
• The Humanity Bureau (2017)
• Mom and Dad (2017)
• Inconceivable (2017)

Quotations

* * *

I am not a demon. I am a lizard, a shark, a heat-seeking panther. I want to be Bob Denver on acid playing the accordion.

* * *

Snakes are sometimes perceived as evil, but they are also perceived as medicine. If you look at an ambulance, there's the two snakes on the side of the ambulance. The caduceus, or the staff of Hermes, there's the two snakes going up it, which means that the venom can also be healing.

* * *

I think what makes people fascinating is conflict, it's drama, it's the human condition. Nobody wants to watch perfection.

* * *

I use technology for communication, but I don't have a Blackberry or an iPhone. I use an outdated cell phone, but I'm fine with it.

* * *

When you start a movie, it's not like other kinds of work that you have when you know your boss for years or colleagues for years. You're meeting everyone, mostly, for the first time. You have to get comfortable with those people so you can perform, because the first thing that is going to shut you down is any kind of anxiety.

* * *

I always see America as really belonging to the Native Americans. Even though I'm American, I still feel like a visitor in my own country.

* * *

Passion is very important to me. If you stop enjoying things, you've got to look at it, because it can lead to all kinds of depressing scenarios.

* * *

As I got older, with my work, I became aware of the responsibility of film, and I feel one of the best ways I can apply myself as an actor, is to go beyond movie stardom and celebrity.

* * *

I'm one of those people that feels that Americans that shouldn't do Shakespeare... The rhythms of the English language and the mannerisms of the English speech seems to work effortlessly with William Shakespeare, but when Americans do it, something seems stuck.

* * *

I want to make all kinds of movies. I do want to make big movies that are a lot of fun to go to, but I also want to make movies that are going to stimulate some thought and maybe raise some awareness.

* * *

I have eclectic tastes in the movies I want to do.

* * *

I do enjoy animated movies.

* * *

I'm always curious about what happens when we die. And I'd like to think that somehow the spirit goes on. I'd rather not think that it's just about this.

* * *

You can't make your choices based on what critics think. You have to make your choices based on what's honest for you.

* * *

I try to do as many stunts as they'll let me do. I think it's important for an audience to feel that the actor's really doing it.

* * *

I like fantasy. I like horror, science fiction because I can get avant-garde with those performances in those movies.

* * *

I've always maintained that I see myself as a student. There's always something to learn and be challenged by and hopefully grow from.

* * *

My father was always getting excited about something. It's genetically inside me somewhere.

* * *

Hollywood didn't know if I was an actor or a nut or if I was this crazy character I was playing. I had developed an image of being a little bit unusual, different and wild.

* * *