Why Nicolas Cage does so many ‘popcorn’ movies: “That was by design”
The clearest indication that his money troubles may well be behind him is that for the first time in a long time, Nicolas Cage is starring in more good movies than bad ones.
The actor became the most famous poster child in the straight-to-video arena. He had seen this side of Bruce Willis when his financial issues caused him to rack up as many credits as possible in the shortest amount of time. He could never be accused of phoning it in, but on the other hand, he didn’t half lend his name to some amount of crap.
It looks as though the light has finally appeared at the end of the fiscal tunnel, with Cage potentially embarking on the latest chapter of his career as a resurgent character actor, with fantastical black comedy Dream Scenario recently netting him his first major awards nomination in over 20 years when he was shortlisted for ‘Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy’ at the Golden Globes.
Dystopian horror Arcadian, revisionist western Butcher’s Crossing, self-aware action comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, intimate drama Pig, gonzo horror Willy’s Wonderland, and insane sci-fi Prisoners of the Ghostland have all found Cage firing on all cylinders to utilise every trick in a playbook that ranges from the baroque to the batshit, and it’s the best run of form he’s been on in decades.
Prior to his descent into mediocrity, though, Cage made the transition from acclaimed and idiosyncratic thespian to bankable box office draw look easy when he followed his Academy Award-winning turn in Leaving Las Vegas by headlining The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off within the space of less than a year.
That period marked the apex of his career, with the performer bounding between smaller-scale independent projects and action-packed blockbusters. It wasn’t a career path anyone was expecting him to take when he’d only just reached the top of the mountain by claiming an Oscar, but as Cage explained to The Talks, “it was by design”.
Admitting that he “wanted to break the mould a little bit,” in typical Cage fashion, he was inspired to sign on for a string of ‘popcorn’ flicks after poring over the works of an acting titan. “I was reading books by Stanislavsky, you know An Actor Prepares, and I was interested in the idea of opening doors for performance in film so you don’t have to get stuck in one style: naturalism, photorealism,” he said. “I like to mix it up a little bit in terms of my presentation.”
For better or worse, that was his reasoning behind boarding the likes of Gone with 60 Seconds, John Woo’s Windtalkers, National Treasure, Ghost Rider, Drive Angry, and many more besides. Whereas Cage knows he can “be quiet and cinéma vérité and get more into the minutia of a performance,” he also developed a fondness for doing an “operatic, larger than life, jazz-acting sort of thing.”
He ended up in the doldrums eventually, but when he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, it can’t be said that his approach wasn’t working.
