Nicolas Cage: ‘I don't think a day goes by where I'm not mistaken for Nick Cave'
What do you remember of that appearance on Wogan? What was Terry like in real life? Have you still got that leather jacket, and the snakeskin jacket from Wild at Heart? johnnysmooth, EddieChorepost and BigAl65I remember Terry Wogan was a very nice man and I enjoyed the interview with him, although I thought I was both obnoxious and somewhat wild. I guess it's no secret that I was promoting a movie called Wild at Heart, so I was sort of play acting to that. I remember, as a child, I was in a car, a guy was walking down the street, and he had a leather jacket on and no shirt on underneath. I thought: 'Well, that's an interesting look.' I don't know why that came back to me when I went on Terry's show, but I thought: 'I'm going to create that look again.' It was incredibly absurd and irreverent. I don't have that leather jacket any more.
I found the snakeskin jacket in a secondhand store on Melrose in Los Angeles called Aaardvark's – it reminded me of the jacket Brando wears in The Fugitive Kind – and I knew at some point I was gonna put it in a movie. I ended up giving it to Laura Dern because she was such a terrific actor, I enjoyed our time together on that movie with David Lynch, so I wanted her to have it.
How often do you watch Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber and think: 'That could have been me?' TopTrampNever. I remember when Jim [Carrey] wanted me to do it. I was at the Chateau Marmont, rehearsing with Mike Figgis, getting ready for Leaving Las Vegas, which was a conflict with Dumb and Dumber. I'm glad they made their movie and I'm happy for them, but I think I made the right choice.
I was lucky enough to be in Warsaw recently and, by chance, found a premiere of The Surfer at the cultural centre. There was a Q&A with people involved in the movie and, despite it being in Polish, I think I understood that 'eat the rat!' was a line suggested by you … and that you wanted to actually eat it, is that correct? EattheratHalf of it is correct. The half that is correct is that I did want to say: 'Eat the rat.' It was a good prop rat – it was made out of rubber, it wasn't a real rat – and I had gotten the idea from an old Billy Wilder movie called Sabrina, where Humphrey Bogart takes an olive out of a martini glass, puts it in his uncle's mouth and says: 'Eat it.' I couldn't stop laughing when I saw that moment. When I saw the prop rat, I said, 'I'll put it in my pocket,' because I liked the way the rubber tail was moving. I thought it was amusing, and thought: 'I can use this.' I wanted to channel it in more of a punk rock way than Bogart did with the olive, by shoving the rat in Pitbull's [played by Alexander Bertrand] mouth. It was a cathartic moment. By that point in the movie, I thought my character has gone through enough suffering and that he's earned the right to go big and shove a rat in the guy's mouth.
Mandy blew my mind: a blood-drenched, acid-fuelled fever dream. I think you really let go, as never before, with [character] Red Miller. Did it feel like that? HamesJoyceOh yeah. I mean, Mandy is a terrific work of art from the artist that is Panos Cosmatos. I knew when I saw his movie, Beyond the Black Rainbow, that he was a talent that was marching to the beat of his own drum. He's not somebody that people can emulate or replicate. It was a great film and I'm very happy I got a chance to make it with him.
Apparently you're a big fan of the Cornish pasty, and pickled gherkins with your fish and chips. What's your go-to chippy order? TurangaLeela2I just like traditional fish and chips. Maybe a pickled egg, keep it simple. Whatever is the most traditional fish and chips I can get is what I'm going to go with.
Fandom is one thing, but does it feel strange to have all of these things named after you, like the Cage-a-rama festival [Scotland's first Nicolas Cage festival], and Cage Against the Machine [who fuse the words of Nicolas Cage with the music of Rage Against the Machine]? JohnnyDGoodeI am not familiar with that musical institution. I am familiar with a hard rock band out of Australia called Nicolas Cage Fighter, and I think they're terrific. Their songs are empowering. The lyrics are all about taking ownership of your mistakes, never being a victim, figuring out how you can fix your problems. 'Re-evaluate your life / Focus on yourself / Look me in the eyes again / Tell me that none of this is your fault.' They're not afraid to write songs that are about where you have to own up to your mistakes.
Aussie musician Nick Cave tells a mad shaggy dog story about meeting you. What is your own psychedelic take on this fabled meeting of minds? And have you, like Mr Cave, ever been mistaken for your almost-namesake? McScootikinsI don't think there's a day that goes by where I'm not mistaken for Nick Cave. People also say: 'Hey, Nic, you were great in The Hunger,' which is this great David Bowie movie [in which Cage doesn't feature]. I do remember that Cave was very nice. We were at an animal sanctuary, I believe – I think Sealy Animal Hospital in Texas – and he was terrific. I said hello and wanted to shake his hand. I said: 'Only one letter separates us – G. Nick Cave, Nic Cage.'
Which performance took you the furthest out of your comfort zone? staypositiveI think the hardest performance was The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, because I was playing a character called Nick Cage and I couldn't hide behind it. It was enormously uncomfortable. I felt very naked, and in some ways embarrassed, that I was even playing a part that referred to himself as Nicolas or Nick Cage.
What would surprise people most about you if they knew you personally, ie, what is the least 'Nic Cage' thing about you? nexus278I think people have an idea about me from the characters they've seen me play in movies. But the reality is, I bore myself. I don't really go out. I'm at home all the time. I'd rather just spend time with my two-year-old, and I don't really go and socialise. Not that I'm antisocial, but I have my daughter and I have my little life that I enjoy and it's pretty simple, so perhaps that would be a surprise.
The Surfer is in UK and Irish cinemas from 9 May
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