I do hope 20,000 Leagues gets made and Cage plays Captain Nemo -- that seems utterly unpredictable and also perfect.

Thank you for this great article, the questions were so respectful and thoughtful. I had no idea how thoughtful, cultive and sincere ("naked" to quote him) Nicholas Cage or about his acting philosophy. About his financial problems, someone else would have demanded the journalist not ask, refused to answer or given some nonsense about "all the films I make are about art and money has nothing to do with it!" and all that. But he didn't. It takes a lot to be that honest, sincere and real with oneself and with others. He sees himself as an artist who works, and like he said, what is wrong with that? I love several of his films but my all time favorite of his remains Moonstruck. I have watched it so many times there are parts of the dialogue I know by heart. I am surprised how he sees Ronny though The way he played him makes me think of Marlon Brando in A Street Car Named Desire and On the Waterfront. I also really like Lord of War. I did not expect to, at all. In fact I thought the film would be entirely ridiculous but again, I was wrong. Compared to Blood Diamonds, Tears of the Sun and other such films were African characters are entirely unbelievable to the point of parody, that film had grown on me. I will check out Mandy.

Wow! Nick presents as a really smart interesting guy. I would have thought an interview would sound more like the orangutan he mentions, a wild man, than the thoughtful professor of film, the focused insightful man he seems to be. I hope he's careful managing the cleaning of the whiteboard with ethanol solvent between movies.

Wonderful article but for all that's holy, why did the magazine design crew decide to put a red typeface on a black background? It was soooo hard to read!

Few Actors have the ability to chew the scenery with such ferocity - he's always moved to the "beat of his own drum" as they say, and nothing has changed...he is fascinating to watch in his film "Mandy", and I sat through SIX of his most recent films in a single day...not all great, but he is so interesting as a performer: https://johnrieber.com/2018/07/21/a-nicolas-cage-movie-six-pack-i-watch-six-new-nic-cage-films-in-a-single-day-heres-how-it-ended/

Sad to see no mention of my favorite Cage movie, "Red Rock West", which along with "Wild at Heart" and "Adaptation", is more than enough for me to overlook his hammier excursions into the cinematic art.

Amazing interview. I don't care too much for movie star aura, but Nicholas Cage radiates the disruptive power of genius.

I thought this was an interesting, insightful, revealing interview. I thought Marchese asked thoughtful questions that Cage responded to in kind! It was enjoyable and challenging to read responses from Cage that sent me straight to Google to explore further. Thank you both for a provocative read!

They may not have been the greatest actors, but Christopher Walken and Nicolas Cage had a certain intensity that appealed to viewers like me who are bored by most mainstream and all action films. That said, I have not seen one of Cage's films in years, and had forgotten about him until I read this article.

I've had trouble finding the source of the quote "The psychotic drowns in the same waters in which the mystic swims with delight," attributed usually, as it is here, to Campbell (he's said to have used the line in his lectures, but there doesn't appear to be any proof of this). For whatever it's worth, If Campbell did say it, it was almost certainly a paraphrase of Carl Jung's rejoinder to James Joyce, whose daughter Jung treated for schizophrenia in the 1930s. When Joyce mentioned the similarity between Lucia's psychosis and his own literary techniques, Jung apparently replied, "Yes, but you are swimming in it; your daughter is drowning."

Sorry, this is just the ramblings of a once A-list star who fell into the chaos of self-indulgence. Hollywood has many stories of fallen talent trying to recover what once was. Sadly there's really nothing of value here with which to inform the public.

Thank you for this wonderful interview. Well, I agree with Matt - I assume it's Edvard Munch. I've seen an article where he mentioned Edvard Munch with Igor Stravinsky. Nicolas Cage is a great artist. And he's a very intellectual man who loves the arts. He's usually described as wild, but there are other qualities of him - I see a shy, quiet, sincere, romantic and gentle man. And one of his finest assets as an actor is the great and natural 'pathos'. Nicolas Cage is a great actor with such range and depth. He is excellent in dramatic and devastating roles. But he is also great as an Everyman. (It Could Happen to You, The Family Man, The Weather Man) Speaking of 'The Weather Man', on the trivia page, "Nicolas Cage recorded all of the inner monologue at a local recording studio before shooting began." There are so many Nicolas Cage films with internal monologue. His voice-overs are superb - with soothing tranquility in various styles, keeping with the character and the film. The delicate and subtle nuances is another testament to his greatness and dedication as an actor. And I especially love his 'The Weather Man' voice-over style - it's beautiful.

nic cage is an artist. he doesn't need to be humble about. I love his intelligence, insight, and originality. there are very few actors who commit the way he does.

If he could step out of the Nic Cage character in a role, just every now and again, he might be able to finally make some good movies.

Thank you for this glorious insanity! I've often wondered how an actor who has delivered so many of my favorite film performances can so often, without seeming to do anything very different, flop over from genius into self-parody and flat-out awfulness. By not pretending to answer that question or iron out all the contradictions in his personality, you've captured the paradoxes that make him such a fascinating presence. (One small correction: in the list of artists he admires, you've included "Monk." Although he seems like he's probably a fan of the composer/performer Meredith Monk, I'm guessing that, since the others he mentions are visual artists, he probably meant Edvard Munch.)

one of the better interviews in NYT...I don't know understand why some people are so negative towards his work,..it may not be everybody's cup of tea but he is still putting 100% in there ...he clearly works hard at his craft which is more than one can say for most people in the arts. We may not agree with what he does or understand the reason why he does it, but in some cases it really works, at least for some people. Giving people the room to fail is important for artistic growth; the self absorption is an occupational hazard in the theater/movies because that is where it all comes from

This was a very entertaining interview, and the annotated notes were helpful. The best part was Cage's uncannily accurate observation that "I thought people would rather see me as an orangutan than as an eagle meditating on the mountaintop anyway." He seems very self-aware regarding his image and career.

This guy is the worst. Why in the world are you wasting a cover for him?

Ho hum. Such self-importance. "Nic Cage" and "his philosophy" in one sentence. Now that's an oxymoron for you.

By far one of the worst actors to appear on the silver screen. Really makes you wonder how decisions are made in the film industry.

This interview might not be my favorite thing ever. Unlike Cage, my love for family comes before my love of non-sentient objects like the ocean. But this is definitely my favorite thing ever published in the Times (or any newspaper). For those wanting more, I recommend this GQ interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_WDLsLnOSM I know that we all like to make fun of Nic Cage. He's a cut-up who chews through the scenery, a madman savant who hacks his way through overblown performances. I certainly embrace that view sometimes because it's a lot of fun. And when Cage is making a steady stream of bad movies because he's collecting checks to get out of tax problems, it's easy think less of him. But I've always thought, and I think this video helps to show, that he has depth. And furthermore, that he is an intensely committed and instinctive performer. I remember that in The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus wrote that actors are the preeminent example of the absurd hero because they are so engaged in life that they are determined to live multiple lives, multiple times over in their performances. That makes me think of Cage in this video.

The story I heard is that Nicholas Cage changed his last name from to Coppola to Cage so presumably no one in Hollywood would know he is the nephew of Francis Coppola (and of Talia Shire), thereby having to judge him independently on his talents rather than his relationship to Coppola and Shire and a few other big names in Hollywood As if everyone who was anyone in Hollywood didn’t know the Cage and Coppola were related. Cage/Coppola’s ego and posturing do not make him a great star; searching for the holy grail indeed! A match made in heaven: Self-worshiping Nicolas Cage/Coppola, and the Cage/Coppola-worshiping author of this article.

I can get into Nicolas Cage, and the branzino. Interesting dude, great interview.

I loved Nicolas Cage in "Valley Girl." However, if he wants to maintain the enigmatic persona of the Old Hollywood Stars, he really should stay OUT of the tabloids!

Absolutely brilliant interview. Not even his outsized reputation can match the man himself. What a fascinating creature is Nic Cage. I came here to laugh and left feeling blown away. The fact that you're (1) getting back to interviewing interesting people again and (2) sparing us from another political-correctness inquisition is very much appreciated.

The only movie in which I found him believable was Raising Arizona. Sorry.

Nicolas Cage's Oscar was a fluke, and led to progressively poorer roles and even poorer choices; it only served to encourage him (a bad thing). Cage couldn't act wet of he fell out of a boat.