Nicolas Cage Isn’t An Actor, Prefers Fans Use A Specific Term Instead
Nicolas Cage has a long and interesting career full of performances where he played characters on screen. Many would assume that they should call him an "actor" and his profession that of "acting".
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Nicolas Cage has a long and interesting career full of performances where he played characters on screen. Many would assume that they should call him an “actor” and his profession that of “acting”. However, while the star admits that he risks sounding pretentious, he would like to avoid that term. The word actor implies that he is a liar, and he doesn’t see his job that way. In a new interview on Variety’s Award Circuit Podcast, he shared that he’d rather be referred to as a “thespian”.
Here’s what Nicolas Cage had to say about the word actor, and why thespian feels right to him where the former does not.
For me it always implies, ‘Oh, he’s a great actor, therefore he’s a great liar,’ So with the risk of sounding like a pretentious asshole, I like the word ‘thespian’ because thespian means you’re going into your heart, or you’re going into your imagination, or your memories or your dreams, and you’re bringing something back to communicate with the audience.
Nicolas Cage
There are many different approaches to playing characters. One of the more famous approaches is called method acting, something that Nicolas Cage is well known for. The idea behind the approach is for the performer to go to extra lengths to have similar experiences to the character they’re playing. For the thespian, this has led to him having teeth removed for Birdy without using an anesthetic and eating a live cockroach for each of the three takes it took to get the Vampire’s Kiss scene right. His approach is often considered eccentric. The intense method has been shared by fellow thespians like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Meryl Streep. Streep reportedly gave up her approach to her work after she became depressed while working on Devil Wears Prada and has since employed other strategies.
Nicolas Cage still appears to be committed, and it sounds like he plans to stay that way for the rest of his life. In other recent interviews, the star has said that he never wants to retire. He enjoys his work. He doesn’t care if Hollywood appreciates it, if he wins Oscars, or if he is in giant blockbusters. He is a thespian and will stay that way, in whatever way that’s possible for him.
The thespian is certainly managing to stay busy. Recently, he was cast as Dracula in a Universal monster movie. The film is set to be a comedy. While Nicolas Cage has a lot of upcoming projects, this is perhaps the one that’s most talked about. Renfield has also cast Awkwafina in an undisclosed role.
Before Renfield hits screens, audiences are set to finally get to see Nicolas Cage play himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. He is co-starring in the movie with Neil Patrick Harris and Pedro Pascal. The early looks at the movie show Nicolas Cage going over the top and the movie promises to be a lot of fun. Despite that, the experience was definitely strange for Cage, who says that he doesn’t plan to see the movie once it comes out. Playing an intense and wild version of himself was interesting, but not something he feels he needs to see in action. For audiences, it seems to be a big draw. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent will release in movie theaters on April 22, 2022. After his iconic role in Pig, fans are excited to see what the unstoppable thespian does next.
