Nicolas Cage reveals he worked on “crummy” movies to pay off $6 million debt
In a new interview, Renfield star Nicolas Cage has defended his “crummy” movies, revealing that they helped to alleviate his significant debts.
The Oscar-winning actor made the revelation on CBS’ 60 Minutes, explaining that he was in $6 million of debt after the housing market crashed in 2008. “I was over-invested in real estate. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time,” he recalled. “I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
He continued, “It was dark, sure,” before noting that working helped to take his mind off the stress. “Work was always my guardian angel,” Cage said. “It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work. Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in, that I care every time.”
Cage also looked back on the multiple direct-to-video movies he did during this time in an interview with GQ in March 2022: “When I was doing four movies a year, back to back to back, I still had to find something in them to be able to give it my all. They didn’t work, all of them. Some of them were terrific, like ‘Mandy,’ but some of them didn’t work. But I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.”
Read our full review of Renfield online and take a look at his interview on 60 Minutes below.
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