On this date in history, in 1964, the illustrious Coppola family birthed a whole new generation of entertainer - and that entertainer is Nicolas Cage.
Cage shed his famous surname during his teenage years in order to distance himself from the huge shadow cast by the Coppola family name, the most famous member being Francis Ford Coppola, Cage's uncle. Cage even attempted to talk Coppola into a screen test, but given his uncle had worked with the likes of Brando, De Niro, and Pacino, it was a tall order to pass even for a family member, and Cage received no such luck.
Cage would go on to bank himself a huge break even without his family's help however, with his first appearance as "Brad's bud" in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and from there he has gone on to feature in a huge array of films, the most famous/infamous being, but not limited to, National Treasure, Ghost Rider, The Wickerman remake, Face/Off, Raising Arizona, The Rock, and Vampire's Kiss. He's also done voice work for Marvel and DC cartoons, unsurprising given his love for comic books, hence the choice for Cage as his stage name, which was inspired by Luke Cage.
Above all else though, Nicolas Cage is known for being absolutely bat shit insane, not quite arse hole bat shit insane like that little prick Shia Labeouf, but a more respectable, endearing bat shit insane. Cage uses a form of method acting that he likes to call "mega-acting", which he accredits to his sometimes over the top behaviours both on and off camera. During the making of Ghost Rider he insisted on wearing a suit of Ancient Egyptian symbols and corpse paint, and for the film Joe he ate nothing but steak and red meats in order to identity as a carnivore. He also claims that his pet octopus helps him with his acting, as he will study its movement for hours and adopts said movements for his roles. Absolute bin brain.
The dude has also owned two separate castles in his lifetime and a dinosaur skull, as well as countless mansions, yachts, and fancy cars, which may then explain why he has been in so much debt over the years. Despite his spending sprees however, Cage has still always found the funds to pay countless charities around the world, giving $2 million to the Amnesty International charity, and donating $1 to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He's even been honoured by the UN for his ambassador work for global justice, just going to show that even to a man as crazy as Cage, nothing, not even dinosaur remains and castles, come before human kindness.
Finally, Cage has two sons, Weston and Kal-El. Kal-El is pretty cool and all because, yeah nice one, he's named after the baddie from Superman, but Weston? Man, Weston has been the lead singer in two black metal bands, Eyes of Noctum and Arsh Anubis. And thus the legacy of the Coppola family continues to pump out people who make rad shit.
Happy birthday, Nic.
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