The Nicolas Cage performance inspired by a trip to Westminster Abbey: “The church would need him some way”
Some actors are easy to pin down, whether they’re an action hero, character actor or consistently typecast according to their identity. But if there’s one actor who defies all categorisation, it’s Nicolas Cage. Although many of the movies in his filmography of over 120 films are action movies, he has managed to avoid the characterisation of an action hero.
An enigmatic character on and off the screen, he has toed the line between experimental innovator and B-movie hack. However, he remains one of the most intriguing figures in Hollywood, who is renowned for his unique approach to method and preparation. He even practices his own acting style that he has dubbed ‘Nouveau Shamanism’. An eccentric take on method acting, it revolves around a search for ‘the truth’ through an unrestrained imagination.
His role in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance best exemplifies this eccentric approach. Portraying the flaming demon alter ego of stunt rider Johnny Blaze, Cage apparently took to painting his face with a voodoo-style mask and sewed Egyptian artefacts and ‘stones with a certain frequency’ into his costume. He didn’t necessarily believe this would bring him closer to the spiritual realm; instead, he believed this approach would untether his imagination and allow him to do justice to the role.
Interestingly, this strange esoteric take on the Marvel anti-hero was influenced by a trip Cage took to Westminster Abbey. While on the press junket and dressed from head-to-toe in leather, the actor took himself to the Abbey, accidentally intruding on an environmental summit involving multiple religious world leaders, “I had no idea that I was walking into an environmental summit with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church,” he told Female.
After being clocked by a Canadian he was invited up front and then taken on a tour by the archbishop, who seemed to have an affinity with Cage’s leather get-up. “He sees how I’m dressed, and he says, ‘Oh, and by the way, I can be naughty, too.’” This uncharacteristic line from the archbishop wasn’t just iconic but inspired Cage’s new Ghost Rider movie.
At that moment, it clicked for the actor, “John and the ghost rider would somehow be working with the church, and the church would need him in some way.” Who knew a flaming-skulled demon who sold his soul to the devil could have been inspired by one of the most influential religious figure in the world.
But, then again, what else would one expect from the enigma that is Nicolas Cage? Despite the cartoonish CGI employed and Cage’s characteristically manic acting, the performance was apparently based on a need for realism. If not realism is indicative of reality, then realism is based on how it would really feel to sell your soul and become a vengeance-seeking spirit at night. The filmmaker Brian Taylor thought the best way to achieve this was by nixing the Cage’s stunt double and having him embody the Ghost Rider himself.
