Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award–winning American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona (1987), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Con Air (1997), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Adaptation (2002), National Treasure (2004), Lord of War (2005), Ghost Rider (2007), The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012).

 

 

Early life

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California. His father, August Floyd Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family. His father was of Italian descent and his mother is of German and Polish descent. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata.Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy.

 

Career

Acting career

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married.

 

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy Moonstruck, also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy Raising Arizona; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film Wild at Heart; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama Matchstick Men, in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

 

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in Adaptation. Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller 8mm (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film Captain Corelli's Mandolin and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. He made his directorial debut with 2002's Sonny. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, Lord of War and The Weather Man, failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for The Wicker Man resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he starred in Next, which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film, The Family Man (2000).

 

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include The Rock, in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, Face/Off, a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and World Trade Center, director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. from the B-movie double feature Grindhouse.

 

Cage made his directorial debut with Sonny, a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes Shadow of the Vampire, the first effort from Saturn Films.

 

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On The Dresden Files for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer.
 

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a Ring of Honor wrestling show in New York City researching his role for The Wrestler. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.Wrestler Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race. "

 

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film Bangkok Dangerous. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest."This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in Ghost Rider. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece Season of the Witch, playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, in which he played the sorcerer.

 

Other works

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.

 

In 2007, he created a comic book with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for Juxtapoz magazine and purchased the painting Death On The Boards.

 

Acting style

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.

 

Praise and criticism

Nicolas Cage's acting has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film Adaptation, that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him." Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of Knowing and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie to which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.

 

In the 68th Academy Awards, Cage was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas.

 

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.

 

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget, action-adventure movies rather than smaller, character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise. In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the New York Times, declaring Cage "no longer an actor."

 

Personal life

Relationships and family

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film Lord of War as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

 

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001).

 

Cage's second marriage was to singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in Wild at Heart. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.

 

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki and at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (after Superman's birth name) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film Next, which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.

Filmography

Film credits
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Brubaker	Extra	Uncredited
1981	Best of Times	Nicholas
1982	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Brad's Bud	As Nicolas Coppola
1983	Outsiders, TheThe Outsiders	Man in rumble scene	Uncredited
1983	Valley Girl	Randy
1983	Rumble Fish	Smokey
1984	Racing with the Moon	Nicky and Bud
1984	Cotton Club, TheThe Cotton Club	Vincent Dwyer
1984	Birdy	Sergeant Al Columbato
1986	Boy in Blue, TheThe Boy in Blue	Ned Hanlan
1986	Peggy Sue Got Married	Charlie Bodell
1987	Raising Arizona	H. I. McDunnough
1987	Moonstruck	Ronny Cammareri	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1988	Never on Tuesday	Man In Red Sports Car	Uncredited
1989	Vampire's Kiss	Peter Leow	Festival de Cine de Sitges Award for Best Actor Tied with Michael Gambon for The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male
1990	Tempo di uccidere	Enrico Silvestri	aka Time to Kill
1990	Fire Birds	Jake Preston	aka Wings of the Apache
1990	Wild at Heart	Sailor
1990	Zandalee	Johnny
1992	Honeymoon in Vegas	Jack Singer	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1993	Amos & Andrew	Amos Odell
1993	Deadfall	Eddie
1994	Century of Cinema, AA Century of Cinema	Himself
1994	Red Rock West	Michael Williams
1994	Guarding Tess	Doug Chesnic
1994	It Could Happen to You	Charlie Lang
1994	Trapped in Paradise	Bill Firpo
1995	Kiss of Death	Little Junior Brown
1995	Leaving Las Vegas	Ben Sanderson	Academy Award for Best Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor National Board of Review Award for Best Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor San Sebastián International Film Festival Silver Seashell Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Male Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
1996	Rock, TheThe Rock	Dr. Stanley Goodspeed	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	Con Air	Cameron Poe	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure
1997	Face/Off	Castor Troy/Sean Archer	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action/Adventure Film Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor
1998	City of Angels	Seth	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Drama or Romance Film
1998	Snake Eyes	Rick Santoro	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Suspense Film
1999	8mm	Tom Welles
1999	Bringing Out the Dead	Frank Pierce
2000	Gone in Sixty Seconds	Randall "Memphis" Raines	Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in an Action Film
2000	Family Man, TheThe Family Man	Jack Campbell	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor in a Comedy or Romance Film
2000	Welcome to Hollywood	Himself
2001	Italian Soldiers	Himself
2001	Captain Corelli's Mandolin	Captain Antonio Corelli
2001	Christmas Carol: The Movie	Jacob Marley	Voice
2002	Windtalkers	Sgt. Joe Enders
2002	Adaptation.	Charlie and Donald Kaufman	Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—Visual Effects Society Award for Best Performance by an Actor in an Effects Film
2002	Sonny	Acid Yellow	Director Nominated—Deauville Film Festival Grand Prix du jury
2003	Matchstick Men	Roy Waller
2004	National Treasure	Benjamin Gates
2005	Lord of War	Yuri Orlov
2005	Weather Man, TheThe Weather Man	David Spritz
2006	Ant Bully, TheThe Ant Bully	Zoc	Voice
2006	Wicker Man, TheThe Wicker Man	Edward Malus
2006	Too Tough To Die	Himself
2006	World Trade Center	John McLoughlin
2007	Ghost Rider	Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze
2007	Grindhouse	Dr. Fu Manchu	Segment: Werewolf Women of the S.S.
2007	Next	Cris Johnson
2007	National Treasure: Book of Secrets	Benjamin Gates
2008	Bangkok Dangerous	Joe
2009	Knowing	Professor Jonathan "John" Koestler
2009	G-Force	Speckles the Mole	Voice
2009	Astro Boy	Dr. Tenma	Voice
2009	The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans	Terrence McDonagh, The bad Lieutenant	Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
2010	Kick-Ass	Damon Macready/Big Daddy
2010	Sorcerer's Apprentice, TheThe Sorcerer's Apprentice	Balthazar Blake
2011	Season of the Witch	Behman von Bleiruck
2011	Drive Angry	Milton
2011	Trespass	Kyle
2011	Seeking Justice	Will Gerard
2012	Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance	Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze
2012	Stolen	Will Montgomery
2012	The Frozen Ground	Detective Glenn Flothe	Post-production
2013	Croods, TheThe Croods	Crug	Voice, Post-production
2013	Frank or Francis	The Emcee	Pre-production
2013	Joe	Joe	Filming
TBA	The Expendables 3		Pre-production