Nic Cage's AMA Offers Up Some Deep and Hilarious Answers

There's just something about Nicolas Cage that has captured our collective excitement. As an actor, he's dared to do many different roles, famously taking on a long list of VOD and direct-to-video projects to pay off an IRS debt. Still, Cage doesn't phone anything in. He's committed to roles and has wildly changed the way we see actors and acting. 

Well, the internet is buzzing about his new film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. In this one, Cage lampoons his own life and career. While that movie looks spectacular, I am currently even more obsessed with Cage's Reddit AMA, which is taking the internet by storm. 

In the AMA, Cage gives some of the most thoughtful and engaging answers on his career, the craft of acting, and when makes him proud.

For example, Cage says his dream character to play is "Captain Nemo because of the character’s love of the ocean I share that with him."

And it wasn't all acting roles. When expanding on whether or not he likes bees, Cage said, "Yes. I would have to say they’re my favorite insect. They make us honey. Bees, and then the firefly. And ants are interesting. Bumble bees are quite adorable. Don’t get me started on the praying mantis. I told David Cronenberg once that the praying mantis was the most ferocious of the insects and he so said no, and I said what is, and he said the dragon fly larvae and he said that the beast in the Alien movies was designed after the dragon fly larvae because it shoots its teeth out and when it attacks."

There were also more standard answers, like which of his movies he thinks contain his best performances. He listed Leaving Las Vegas, Pig, and Bringing Out the Dead.

Cage is a generational talent, someone Ethan Hawke once said changed acting.

When confronted with his own talent and Ethan's quote about him being one of the greatest ever, Cage said, "It’s very kind of Ethan to say so, as you may well know, I’ve worked with Ethan in Lord of War and have always been spellbound by his talent. I think many of the choices I’ve made have been inspired by film stars from the silent era as well as cultural expression of performance like Kabuki and some of the Golden Age actors like Cagney so I don’t know how to say I’ve done something new because those elements are always on my mind."

Cage comes off as humble, interesting, and courageous. I hope we're embarking on a new era where he gets to work with interesting directors and continues to take massive chances. As long as Cage is betting on himself, we all win. 

You can read his entire Reddit AMA here.