It’s not a secret big Hollywood studio like a sure bet, and there’s no shortage of predictable movies to prove it. Perhaps this is why Nicolas Cage left Los Angeles for Las Vegas long ago. At 59, the Academy Award winner owns one of the most eclectic lists of film credits in the business He’s been at it for over 40 years – from leading man to action-hero to lesser features and back again. But as we learn, behind that kaleidoscope of characters lies a unique imagination and an encyclopedic knowledge of film… that seems to inspire everything Nicolas Cage does… his work, his life and even it.
Cage’s Brand New Golden Lamborghini – An homage to a beloved 1968 film directed by Federico Fellini… this golden Ferrari features
Nicolas Cage: It was a crazy beautiful Fellini film and it inspired me. So when I saw this. I said, “That’s the car.” It’s not a Ferrari, which would be great. But they don’t really have a golden Ferrari.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Did you drive it out of the gate here?
Nicolas Cage: Oh yeah.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Yes?
Nicolas Cage: It’s funny.
Sharyn Alfonsi: It’s funny.
Nicolas Cage: Snap, crackle, pop, right?
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By any measure, Nicolas Cage is not slow. He’s now reprising the role of Dracula in a movie called “Renfield” — and five more movies are coming. We meet Nicolas Cage at the home he shares with his wife and young daughter in Las Vegas. Nicolas Cage’s house in Las Vegas is exactly what you’d imagine. Part goth-cathedral, part avant-garde gallery. There’s an African crow in the living room, a cat that might scare off a burglar, and it…
Sharyn Alfonsi: Oh my gosh.
Nicolas Cage: This is my black dragon. This is a monitor lizard. He will be about 6 feet tall. He is like having a real dinosaur in your home. It’s kind of amazing. And he is alive.
That kind of imagination is in his DNA. Nicholas Kim Coppola was born on the edge of movie royalty. Her uncle is director Francis Ford Coppola. He told us that his mother Joy, a choreographer, suffered from severe mental illness and was institutionalized for much of her childhood. He and his two brothers were raised by his father, August, a professor of literature… who introduced him to the masterworks of Italian and German filmmakers igniting his love of cinema. As a teenager, he worked in a movie theater and said he was fascinated by the big screen.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Was it about being a movie star, or was it about escaping into something else?
Nicolas Cage: No. It was wanting to be James Dean, a “rebel without a cause” and wearing that red jacket. Want to be John in “Saturday Night Fever.” I came out of the cinema electrified. I was like, yes, I want to go there.
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And he did after seeing James Dean in “East of Eden.”
Nicolas Cage: It made more sense to me than anything I’ve ever experienced. Music, you know, Beethoven, Beatles, painting. What I saw in that moment made me realize the power, the excitement of what you can convey through film acting. Film performance.
He pursued that feeling for most of his life. Inhabiting characters of every stripe… a child-abducting ex-con… a Brooklyn baker… an alcoholic screenwriter… a treasure hunter and even himself.
Cage’s first feature role came in 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” The 17-year-old blends into the background, but her Coppola name doesn’t come up. His uncle directed “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now.” Confused about it on set, he changed his name, inspired by a Marvel superhero with intact skin.
Nicolas Cage: When people think of Nicolas Cage, I wanted it to have a punk rock energy. I wanted it to be unexpected. You never know what you’re going to get. I wanted it to be exciting and a little scary.
has been After more than 100 movies, Nicolas Cage is almost in his own genre. He told us that when he read the script for “Peggy Sue Got Married,” he was worried it was going to be like the drama “Our Town”… which he hated.
Nicolas Cage: I grew up watching “Gumby” and hearing about Pokey. And I thought, “Well, that would be a good voice for a character, especially in this movie.” And so I thought, “If I do this, it won’t be boring. It’ll be like, what is he doing?”
Sharyn Alfonsi: And Kathleen Turner said, “What’s she doing?”
Nicolas Cage: I think I let him down in the performance, but I love him.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Did she ever say, “Knock it off?”
Nicolas Cage: Oh yeah.
But Cage will again be drawn from a strange place, the Coen brothers.”Raising Arizona“
Sharyn Alfonsi: How did you envision this role?
Nicolas Cage: HI McDunnough was like that thrush muffler symbol, Woody Woodpecker with a cigar. I saw him, like red hair. Like a “Looney Tunes” character come back to life.
Sharyn Alfonsi: I want to ask you about a scene from that movie. You are taking a mug shot. And you turn. And you’re walking away, you slap your ass.
Nicolas Cage: I thought of everything. “Giddy up,” you know? Like, he’s lifting himself out of the mug shot.
Cage’s catalog of inspiration ranges from cartoons to the haunting German films he watched as a child.
Sharyn Alfonsi: You are influenced by the German expressionists. What does that look like?
Nicolas Cage: Well, is it specifically movies like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” or “Nosferatu” or “Metropolis.” The mad scientist shows the robot hand, and it goes that way. You know, it’s just, like, a big, expressive act. So I called it “Moonstruck,” “I Lost My Hand,” which is a direct plagiarism.
Thirty-five years later, one of his most memorable roles is the operatic, one-armed unemployed Ronnie Camareri in the romantic comedy “Moonstruck.” But Cage says it was a short film called “Leaving Las Vegas” that was the answer to his prayers.
Sharyn Alfonsi: What did you think when you first read the script?
Nicolas Cage: I had that feeling with “East of Eden” and James Dean. It’s a movie I really want to make, a heartbreaking drama about two wounded people who have this true love.
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Sharyn Alphonsi: How did you figure out how to play this role?
Nicolas Cage: Well, I’ve seen a lot of good movies. I looked up to Kris Kristofferson in “A Star Is Born.” From him I felt that he was always smiling. In my view, the only thing sadder than a person who is in a sad situation and knows it, is a person who is in a sad situation and doesn’t know it.
Nicolas Cage: I was saying to myself, literally, “I’m never going to win an Academy Award, so come on, whatever it is, nobody wanted to do it.”
Sharyn Alfonsi: At the Oscars, you announced on stage that you loved the idea of blurring the lines between art and commerce by making this short film. And then you start doing these big action films.
Nicolas Cage: Yeah, it was about being unpredictable. And try something new again. But when I did it, I think it pissed off a lot of people, you know? It was like, “Well, you’re an actor’s actor. You’re not supposed to do adventure films.”
But he did. “The Rock,” with Sean Connery, a jail-break movie, “Con Air,” the “National Treasure” franchise and “Face/Off,” in which Cage’s character literally swaps faces with John Travolta. An absurd idea that delivered big returns at the box office and helped catapult Cage into the ranks of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Where is your head when it starts happening?
Nicolas Cage: “Oh, great. Now I can make another ‘Leaving Las Vegas.’ Let’s keep doing it. Let’s mix it up. Let’s keep challenging ourselves.”
But Cage faced a different kind of challenge. We wanted to ask him about reports that he used his fortune to buy exotic cars, mansions around the world, and even one Dinosaur skull… But his African crow, Hugin, objected to the line of questioning.
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Nicolas Cage: Hi, Hugin.
Sharyn Alfonsi: Exactly
Nicolas Cage: Nice to hear you talking again. I know everyone at home has annoyed you.
Sharyn Alphonsi: Houses, right? A castle in Germany, an island in England, a palace in New Orleans. What is it about?
Nicolas Cage: I overinvested in real estate. It wasn’t because I spent $80 on an octopus. The real estate market crashed, and I could not get out in time.
Sharyn Alfonsi: How Much Money Did You End Up Paying to the IRS and Your Creditors?
Nicolas Cage: I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I have not filed for bankruptcy.
He moved to Las Vegas tax-free. Digging and working endlessly – making three to four movies a year.
Sharyn Alfonsi: It was a dark time for you.
Nicolas Cage: It was dark. sure
Sharyn Alfonsi: Did the job help you–
Nicolas Cage: No doubt, work. Work has always been my guardian angel. It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work.
Sharyn Alfonsi: When someone suggests that period when these critics say, “Ugh, he’s just here for the paycheck and he’s phoning it in.”
Nicolas Cage: Even if the movie ends up being bad, they know I’m not phoning it in, I care every time. But there are people who probably think that the only good acting I can do is the acting I chose to do by design, which was more operatic and, you know, larger than life and so-called ‘cage rage’. And that’s all. But you won’t get it every time.
But part of the appeal is ‘Cage Rage’, a mockery to his fans for his out-sized, some say, climactic moments in the film.
Sharyn Alfonsi: You go for it. I heard you describe it as, like, going for the triple axel every time. And sometimes you land it, and sometimes you don’t.
Nicolas Cage: Well, not every time. But there are things that I sometimes want to go for that I have a vision for, and I do, and I do.
Like his performance as a heartbroken chef in the 2021 movie “Pig”.
Nicolas Cage: When I played Rob in “Pig,” I felt like I entered the room. I felt that I was closer to myself than I had ever been before acting on film.
Sharyn Alphonsi: What do you mean, near you?
Nicolas Cage: That I wasn’t acting. I felt that what I do is right. I think it’s probably my best film, and I think I’d put it up against “Leaving Las Vegas” or something.
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This will include his turn as Dracula in his latest film “Renfield.” Cage caught up with us at a favorite hangout on the Strip to talk about counting.
Nicolas Cage: Dracula is terrifying because it’s a legacy. Dracula is a character that has been done well many times. He is a character that has been done poorly many times. But for me, I think Christopher Lee, he was my Dracula. He made Dracula look scary, you know. We’re in for a happy marriage where I’d like to, like, bring the camera with its teeth–almost like a shark with “jaws,” like an oar!
Sharyn Alfonsi: You seem like a guy who’s always there. You don’t do anything by halves.
Nicolas Cage: Very insightful, Sharyn. Very, very insightful.
Produced by Michael Kurzis. Associate Producer, Katie Kerbstat Jacobson. Broadcast Associate, Elizabeth Germino. Edited by Matthew Danowski.