23 Random Fun Facts Nicolas Cage Just Revealed About His Most Iconic Movie Roles

Updated on 9/21/2018 at 6:20 PM

Nicolas Cage's résumé is jam-packed with recognizable film roles, from his appearances in the National Treasure franchise to darker turns in projects like Adaptation and Face/Off. While sitting down with GQ recently, the 54-year-old took the opportunity to reflect on his most memorable onscreen moments and ended up sharing plenty of interesting tidbits of behind-the-scenes knowledge you might never have known otherwise. See what he had to say ahead!

Moonstruck

Cher wanted to costar with Cage in Moonstruck because she'd seen him in Peggy Sue Got Married and thought his performance was like "watching a two-hour car accident." According to Cage, he was "flattered."
The scene where he, as Ronny Cammareri, yells out "I lost my hand, I lost my bride!" was inspired by a moment in Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis.
He originally based Ronny's voice and mannerisms on the voice of the Beast in the 1946 version of Beauty and the Beast but ended up scrapping it.

Raising Arizona

The reason H.I. McDunnough has a Woody Woodpecker tattoo on his arm is because Cage viewed the character as a cartoon, "larger than life."
He auditioned for the movie "over 20 times."

Leaving Las Vegas

He thought the relationship between Ben Sanderson and Sera was one of "the coolest" he'd ever seen and based his performance on Kris Kristofferson's in A Star Is Born and Albert Finney's in Under the Volcano.
Cage went so far as to hire a "drinking coach" to help him create a realistic performance, whom he'd have on set with him. "The poor guy would be curled up in a fetal position in my trailer as I'm playing bongos," he recalled. "But he would say the most poetic, drunken things."
In the scene where Ben flips over the blackjack table in the casino, Cage was legitimately pretty hammered.

Con Air

The set was completely "testosterone-addled," with "everyone doing push-ups and chin-ups and trying to see who could run faster. There was always some sort of competition of machismo."

Face/Off

According to Cage, his performance in 1997's Face/Off is the "direct result" of his time in the 1988 film Vampire's Kiss, where he was again inspired by German expressionistic films.
He also mentioned that Vampire's Kiss is his favorite movie he's ever made.
Cage and costar John Travolta would watch each other's footage each day so they could find ways to mirror and match each other's movements and mannerisms.
He's jealous that Travolta got to play Castor Troy more so than he did and one day wants to appear in a film where he plays the character the whole way through.

Bringing Out the Dead

They shot the film for close to six months, only at night.
He went on multiple ride-alongs with real paramedics to research the character and at one point had to pick up a victim in Hell's Kitchen who'd been "shot through the ass." He was worried that the kid was going to choke on the gum he was chewing, so he even took the gum out of the victim's mouth while the real paramedics were prepping him for the hospital.

Adaptation

Depending on "which side of the bed" he woke up on each morning, that would dictate if he'd be playing Charlie or Donald Kaufman on set.
He cites playing both characters in Adaptation as "the most acrobatic challenge as a thespian" he's ever had and isn't sure he'd ever do it again.

National Treasure

He didn't expect National Treasure to be a hit whatsoever.
Cage went to high school with the director, Jon Turteltaub, and they were close growing up. "We were always making jokes and cracking each other up," he said. "He got the lead in Our Town and I got the crummy part of Constable Warren and he never let me forget it."

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans

To get to the core of such a strung-out character, Cage would carry around a vile of sugar substitute that looked like cocaine. "I'd psych myself up by snorting [it] and trying to get into the headspace," he said. "Everyone was kind of getting a little flipped out about my psych-up process to get this scene because I'm going nuts and high on 'coke.' So [director Werner Herzog] was like, 'Nicolas, what is in that vile?!'"
Despite his antics, he said he was "completely dry" on the film, abstaining from drinking entirely.

Mandy

Cage plays the character of Red in the horror-thriller but was originally approached by director Panos Cosmatos to play cult leader Jeremiah Sand.
He pulled from the pain of going through his third divorce and his father's passing to fuel Red's emotional state.