Playboy's 20Q: Nicolas Cage

1

Playboy: After playing twins in Adaptation, were you disappointed to play only one con artist in your new Ridley Scott film, Matchstick Men?

Cage: Absolutely not. Adaptation was the most difficult film I've done in terms of special effects. We'd decide which twin to shoot depending on which side of the bed I got up on that day.

2

Playboy: Neither you nor Scott is known for comedies. Did Matchstick Men feel like new territory?

Cage: Gee, when I consider all those heavy dramas I've been in, like Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Adaptation and Honeymoon in Vegas, I kind of understand how you can ask that question.

3.

Playboy: Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder. Do you seek out films that have a Vegas theme?

Cage: It's totally a fluke that I've made three or so movies that take place in Las Vegas. I don't know how that happened. Also, for a while, it seemed as if I was making movies that had the word moon in them--Racing With the Moon, Moonstruck. It's just one of those strange things. I'm sure there's another moon movie in my future, because things tend to happen in threes.

4

Playboy: You changed your famous last name when you started acting. What can a Cage do that a Coppola can't?

Cage: Be a movie star.

5

Playboy: Do you get your uncle Francis Coppola's wines at a discount?

Cage: For the holidays, Francis will send me a case of wine. That usually lasts awhile. It's a nice gift. My new favorite is my cousin Roman's wine called RC Reserve. It's a quality syrah and a good value. We went to Venice together and had the first tasting of his wine in Europe. It was great.

6

Playboy: Would you like to do a movie in which you don't have to torture yourself for the role?

Cage: Those roles are just the ones that stand out. I think of Family Man as being about a guy who isn't really on the edge, or my character in Guarding Tess. It seems I gravitate toward characters who do have some sort of dark edge to them. I don't know why that is. Maybe I'm just a dark-edged kind of guy.

7

Playboy: Is it best to work out troubling things in movies, or would it save time to go to a psychiatrist?

Cage: The best way to work out anything is through expression and--in my case--through movies, whether it's acting, directing or producing. Take negatives and turn them into positives through creativity.

8

Playboy: In Leaving Las Vegas, your character suffers the erectile problems characteristic of a heavy drinker. If there were a cure, would its name be Elisabeth Shue?

Cage: The only time my character ever gets hard is at the very end of the movie, with Elisabeth's character. For the majority of the film, he is unable to do anything because of the massive amounts of alcohol he's drinking. But on the other hand, I think he breaks free just before his death.

9

Playboy: Is there a time during the making of a movie when you think it isn't going to work out at all?

Cage: There's always a moment in every movie when I become possessed by self-doubt, because I never want to get comfortable in anything that I'm doing. That's part of the reason I haven't taken a straight line in my career trajectories, because I wasn't comfortable making some of the choices that I made. I thought perhaps by doing that I could learn something or grow in some way as an actor. I'm always trying to stay on the high wire.

10.

Playboy: Divorce for actors is especially hard because it's so public. One school of thought has it that to make it easier, give her everything she wants. Having been down that road twice, do you have any advice?

Cage: My general rule is to try my best not to explore my family dynamics publicly. But I will say that I always think it's best to be generous.

11

Playboy: What are some things you really like, and what do you just not give a shit about?

Cage: I really like Venetian glass. I like nature. I like biology. I like Gaudí architecture. I like inspiring acting. I don't give much of a shit about watching a ball game.

12

Playboy: You auctioned off your comic book collection. Did you hold back anything from the hammer?

Cage: I've parted with most of my collection. I kept the old horror comics. I like those--some of the Tales of Suspense comics. By and large I was going through a streamlining process where I made a decision that everything you own owns you. I got too caught up in the collecting. Now I'm trying to find other ways to (concluded on page 157) Nicolas Cage (continued from page 125) stimulate myself besides collecting other people's stuff.

13

Playboy: Was there any role in which you were completely comfortable or found a familiar emotional center?

Cage: I generally don't ever get totally comfortable. I'm always trying to find myself still in a state of tension. A long time ago I was making a movie called Amos and Andrew. It wasn't a very successful film. But I remember at one point I sat down on the couch in that movie and started talking about Sea-Monkeys. The character was talking about his mother buying him an aquarium with Sea-Monkeys in it. In that monolog I felt very centered and comfortable. But the character was smoking a lot of weed.

14

Playboy: Were there any roles you were not offered in which you thought you would have done a better job?

Cage: I can't ever say that I would have done a better job than anybody, because a movie finds the right cast for one reason or another. I do think that if I had played the Joker in Batman I would have made him madly in love with Batman. But I think Jack Nicholson was great.

15

Playboy: What are the best thing and the worst thing a director ever told you?

Cage: The best thing a director ever told me was on Wild at Heart. David Lynch had a very exuberant way of saying, "Nixer! Solid gold, buddy!" That was probably the best thing. The worst thing was on Moonstruck when Norman Jewison said to me on Christmas Eve, "The dailies aren't working."

16

Playboy: Some of the actresses you've worked with include Sarah Jessica Parker, Elisabeth Shue, Bridget Fonda, Cher, Penélope Cruz, Meg Ryan and Kathleen Turner. Considering the quality of the company, were there movies you would have liked to go on a little longer?

Cage: It's funny, when I make a movie I really want to get it over with. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and when I see the palm trees swaying at the end of that tunnel, I know I'm almost done. For me, acting and being in a movie is like being on a hot grill. I just want to get off that grill.

17

Playboy: In romantic situations, is it easier to try something for the first time when you're acting or when you're not acting?

Cage: Probably when you're not acting. There are so many different places you can go to find an attraction. It can be a memory. It can be a picture that you saw. Or it can be the person standing right in front of you. For me, the set is never a very romantic place to meet somebody. There are all these people around, cameras and people observing you. It's not a comfortable zone for romance. For such a thing to happen, it would have to be off the set.

18

Playboy: Have you listened to the album by your ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley?

Cage: Well, yeah, I heard her record it before it came out. I think it's excellent.

19

Playboy: Have you ever experienced a hunka hunka burning love?

Cage: I have, but I've been taking antibiotics and it has cleared up.

20

Playboy: Which son-in-law would Elvis have preferred--you or Michael Jackson?

Cage: I can't speak for him. I just hope he would know that Lisa Marie and I tried.

"If I had played the Joker, I would have made him madly in love with Batman."