The actors who greatly influenced Nicolas Cage
Trying to plug into the mind of Nicolas Cage is a difficult task. The eclectic and eccentric actor has done just about everything that a performer could do in the last 40 years: he’s won Oscars, he’s starred in major blockbuster films, he’s bombed hard at the box office, he’s become a meme, and he’s lived long enough to get self-referential with it all.
There’s a reason why Cage was the one and only choice to star in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Other than Michael Keaton’s revelatory turn in Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), no film of the last century has felt more tailored to an actor’s unique talents. While Keaton got an Oscar-worthy takedown of his former superhero persona, Cage got a gonzo meta-comedy about his notorious reputation.
So who made Cage the man that he is today? Well, the answers may surprise you. While participating in a Reddit AMA back in 2022, Cage was asked about a compliment he received from his former Lord of War co-star Ethan Hawke where Hawke claimed that Cage was “the only actor since Marlon Brando that’s actually done anything new with the art of acting”.
“It’s very kind of Ethan to say so, as you may well know, I’ve worked with Ethan in Lord of War and have always been spellbound by his talent,” Cage shared. “I think many of the choices I’ve made have been inspired by film stars from the silent era as well as cultural expression of performance like Kabuki and some of the Golden Age actors like [James] Cagney so I don’t know how to say I’ve done something new because those elements are always on my mind.”
When you look back on some of the wackier choices and more insane facial expressions that Cage has pulled off over the years, suddenly, the connection to traditional Japanese theatre seems obvious. But the connection to Cagney? That might take another bit of explanation to clear up. It wasn’t the only actor that Cage cited as an influence, however.
While preparing for his role as Big Daddy in the 2010 superhero film Kick-Ass, Cage took some inspiration from the original cultural superhero: Adam West. Both Cage and West seem to share an affinity for the odd, and when Cage got the chance to meet West, he asked if West saw the connection. “I met Adam West once and I said ‘did you see I was channeling you?’,” Cage wrote, “and he said, “I saw you TRY to channel me!”
You can check out Cage’s performance as Big Daddy down below and see if you can make a connection to Adam West, James Cagney, or Kabuki theatre.
