Once one of the acting elite, Nicolas Cage’s career has recently been marked by financial scandal and a string of critically lampooned movies. But his passion never wavers. He tells Roe McDermott about being fated to become an actor, how art and inner conflict drive his performances, and reprising his role as the world’s darkest hero in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
“Right now you’re going to meet Johnny Blaze after living with the curse for eight years,” Nicolas Cage explains to me, “and the toll that it’s taken on his state of mind. He’s like a cop or a paramedic who’s developed a dark sense of humour because it’s really his only way of coping with all the horrors he has seen. He’s not sure whether he wants to live or not. He’s in a dark place.”
Cage’s role as a cursed stunt motorcyclist in the fantasy action sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance isn’t new territory for the actor – in fact, fragmented characters seem to be the one constant in an increasingly inconsistent career path. Once hailed as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, the star of Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, Adaptation and Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans has come under increasing scrutiny for his seemingly undiscerning eye for projects. Roles in big-budget mainstream films such as National Treasure and a run of critically lampooned movies like Trespass, Justice and Season Of The Witch have seen peers such as Sean Penn declare Cage “no longer an actor”, while those who know anything about his tax scandals and financial difficulties think he may just be taking anything that offers a pay-cheque.
But though you can take the actor out of art, you can’t take the art out of an actor, and Cage’s passion for his profession hasn’t diminished.
“The root of all my roles is the human, inner conflict. I see these movies as metaphors for the human condition. And when you play a character in the fantasy realm, like Ghost Rider, it’s much easier to get avant garde with the performances. I have certain abstract dreams, and I think, ‘Well, how can I bring the spirit of a Francis Bacon painting to my acting?’ I believe in art synthesis. When I hear of these people who are unhinged because of occult reasons like Ghost Rider — or more natural reasons like drugs in Bad Lieutenant — it gives me a chance to express these stylised aspirations in a context that works within the movie.”
Cage’s passion for acting, art and philosophy is obviously a by-product of his upbringing. Born to a literature professor and a dancer, and nephew to the celebrated director Francis Ford Coppola, he denies that his background dictated his career.
“My interest to become an actor was really quite separate to any of the instances that I recall as a child visiting movie sets. My interest really began at six. I was fascinated by the TV set and by TV shows like The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, and then I would walk to school and I even had crane shots in my imagination. I could see it filming me as I walked to school! So I think very early on there was a connection there and I feel blessed that I’m doing the thing that I was meant to do.”
But while Cage denies the influence of his family on his decision to become an actor, his style may have been unconsciously affected by them. Having grown up surrounded by successful artists, actors and film-makers, it’s perhaps no wonder that Cage has become known for his daring, bold performances – after all, if you want to make your voice stand out from a crowd, you shout.
In fact, he’s been known to immerse himself so thoroughly in his roles even directors find it intimidating. On the set of Bad Lieutenant, Werner Herzog was so taken aback by Cage’s intense performance as a drug-addicted cop that during a scene where he snorted the cocaine-lookalike sweetener saccharin, Herzog actually checked to see if Cage had replaced the prop with the real thing.
When I ask him, Cage instantly goes into a publicist-darling, PR-friendly “Just say no, kids” speech.
“Werner has no experience of anything like that, and I certainly am not an advocate of drugs, nor would I ever condone doing drugs to achieve a performance, that would be completely antithetical to my belief. Any time in the past that I have experimented with that, it was for no longer than over a six-month period with friends and this was years and years ago, well over 25 years ago. So Bad Lieutenant was really an impressionistic performance where I would recall those feelings. I don’t think I’d be able to do that [take drugs].”
Monologue over, Cage relaxes. I finally get a glimpse of the playful, intriguing character that’s been missing from our screens for a while.
“Now, Leaving Las Vegas, I did drink a little making that movie. I thought it was interesting to see where I could go with that, playing an alcoholic. I’ll tell you about that in private sometime!”
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance explodes into cinemas on February 17.
