Nicolas Cage Says ‘Dream Scenario’ Script Is One of the Top 5 Scripts of His Career: NPR

If you don’t recognize Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage in his new movie, dream scenario, That’s by design: “A lot of thought went into trying to create a character that was as far removed from my presentation as possible,” he says.

In the film, Cage plays Paul Matthews, a college professor who suddenly finds himself appearing as a bystander in the dreams of his friends, family, students, and eventually millions of strangers. The role required the actor to change his nose and hair, walk with a slight crouch, and change the way he spoke.

“I’ve found that over the years I’ve come to be recognized by my voice, the Mojave voice, more than anything else,” Cage says. “So I thought I would raise (my voice) a little bit and add a more meaty sound to Paul’s delivery.”

Cage has been acting for nearly 45 years and has appeared in over 100 films. Dream scenario It was one of five scripts he encountered over the course of his career, and knew he had to execute as soon as he read it. (The others were arizona lift, vampire kiss, Leaving Las Vegas And Adaptation.)

Cage says Dream scenario Screenwriter/director Christopher Burghley is part of a new generation of filmmakers who grew up watching his films and are open to expanding the types of roles he casts.

“I made different kinds of films, different genres, and… I realized at some point that what I guess I would call the ‘old guard’, the gatekeepers, had already made up their minds about me,” he says. “I didn’t want to get any vibe from that group, so I started actively looking for young filmmakers.”

As for his next project, Cage says he might be ready to try television: “I’ve never done it before. I always see myself as a student. Where can I go to learn something? Where can I go to learn something? Afraid of it because it challenges me?”

Highlights of the interview

When he knew he wanted to act from a young age – and found the confidence needed to pursue it

I think it started when I was very young. I was probably four or five years old, and I was in front of the TV and I thought the people inside the TV were so much more interesting than the people in the house that I wanted to try to get inside the TV. …

I felt happy that I was doing exactly what I had always intended to do, and that I was in a job that I believed my DNA was programmed for. I feel lucky to have found it. I almost didn’t. I had another path I was going to take if that didn’t happen. And I was going to do another test. And then if it didn’t work out, I’d get on a boat and go fishing and write short stories. The act worked, but I was thinking of a backup plan? Yes. …

I suspect Valley girl It was really the time I found my voice. And I have to give (director) Martha Coolidge credit. Without it, there would be no Nicolas Cage. She was the one who empowered me, mentored me, and gave me great direction. …I think if Martha hadn’t discovered me, I would have been on the boat. It really gave me confidence and belief in myself that I could do this.

When he changed his last name from Coppola to Cage

I had a clever reason. It was not just an attempt to avoid so-called nepotism. I changed my name, the first time, on my test Valley girl. I did it partly because it’s in a group Fast times (at Ridgemont High School)I was the subject of ridicule because I was Coppola, and I had no right to believe I could act simply because of my brilliant uncle (Francis Ford Coppola). …So I changed my name to Cage. Fortunately, Martha (Coolidge) did not know about the relationship. This is a true story. She called me a “cage”. This was the first time I had ever auditioned under my new name and got the role, and that was a huge incentive for me to believe that I could do it myself.

But the clever reason – and no one really talks about this and I’ve never brought it up before – is that I had the insight to know that filmmakers are a very competitive and somewhat selfish group of directors. And I didn’t think any director would want another director’s name – no less than Coppola – above the title of his film. So I was also thinking about that, in terms of work.

It went on to become an internet meme for acting with exaggerated expressions and gestures in films like his 1989 film Vampire kiss

For me, as a young man interested in all art forms, I was also interested in what I call “artistic synchronicity” – meaning that what you can do in one art form you can do in another art form; If you can be an Impressionist, a Surrealist, a Cubist, even in painting or in music, well, why can’t you be in film performance? In the past I was looking for cinematic performances, such as the German Expressionist performances of Max Schreck Nosferatu Or Fritz Lang, and I… we called it choreographed acting, but I found a lot of energy in that.

And so I wanted to do it Vampire kissTry bringing that back to a modern movie. And I could do that because the character, unfortunately, was losing his mind. So I can do all these weird gestures. And then, while I was doing that, the internet was on high alert and they were picking on this kind of expression… and it became “Memeified.” …

I had to come to terms with it. I didn’t want everything to be reduced to just one photo or one meltdown, if you will, or what’s called “cage rage.” But again, the silver lining was that the simulation kept me in the conversation, but that’s not what I signed up for. So, yes, it motivated me, confused me, and frustrated me.

When looking at his early work in film

I don’t go down memory lane unless I’m forced to. And I made a profile in it Vanity gallery So I was looking at old movies, and it was one of them Absent-minded. But I think there was an energy in the early work that I’m happy with. And I think I felt like it made sense to do that He was an actor. That I was able or was invited to play these parts. It was life changing for me. It was healing in many ways, therapeutic in many ways. It was very helpful to be able to do something constructive with all the energy I had.

Why did he think he would never win an Oscar?

I did Leaving Las Vegas Because no one wants to do that. It was the darkest scenario in town. No studio would touch him, and they were all afraid of him because of the material. And I thought, well, I’m never going to win an Oscar for anything anyway, so let’s do it, you know? And then, when you’re not looking for something, it comes to you.

Lauren Krenzel and Seth Kelly produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz and Molly Seavey Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.