Credit: LionsgateThere was a time when Nicolas Cage was at the top of the world. His acting gravitas led to starring roles in action films like The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), and Con Air (1997). Though he became a multi-millionaire and the face of Hollywood, things began to shift for the beloved actor. He started doing many straight-to-DVD roles that baffled many of his fans. With that, rumors began to spread about why he was taking such “undignified” roles. Cage finally admitted to the biggest rumor and controversy about that time.
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In those random roles, the actor began to find solace and bring himself out of a “dark” period. Movies like Rage (2014), Outcast (2014), and Left Behind (2014) made people start to wonder if he had lost some of his acting prowess. But it was in this random assortment of roles that Cage began to shine again.
Between 2017’s Inconceivable and Dark, Nicolas Cage was starting to come back into his own. Underground horror came calling, as he was cast in the lead role of Mandy (2018). Though the gory violence-filled movie was more for horror fans, people began to notice Cage again and how he became a household name.
By the time 2019 hit, Cage had been cast as Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and returned to the rightful spotlight. Furthering his dominance of blockbuster hits and the underground films he had been so accustomed to making, 2020’s Croods: A New Age reminded us that the man could play any role.
It was in 2021 that he starred in both Willy’s Wonderland and Pig, where everyone finally remembered why he was an unstoppable force in the 1990s. This also led to 2022, when he starred as a fictionalized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
All these roles were building towards something that Nicolas Cage finally admitted. During an in-depth interview with 60 Minutes, the actor admitted that he took all these “crummy” roles as he had fallen into deep debt during the real estate market crash in 2008. Cage revealed that he owed some $6 million in debt due to being unable to get out of the real estate market crash. Instead of filing for bankruptcy, he began to work and obtain whatever roles he could.
According to Cage, “I was over-invested in real estate. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time. I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
Nicolas Cage was finding roles that weren’t his usual blockbuster features, but he still put his all into them.
“Work was always my guardian angel. 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,” he added.
That is one thing to love about the man; he always cares no matter what he does. He also echoed this revelation in 2022 when he stated to GQ, “Some of them were terrific, like Mandy, but some of them didn’t work. But I never phoned it in.”
Nicolas Cage has always spoken about himself as a “thespian” who puts his all into every role. The rumor had been that he had picked random roles because he no longer cared about the art of acting. This is something he shot down completely and has stated many times over.
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With The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and his starring affair in Renfield, we believe he is right back where he should be.
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