Nicolas Cage Interview

Nicolas Cage takes on his roles with the same intensity he brings to his own life.

A Fork in the Road

When he was 17 and trying to break into Hollywood, Nicolas Coppola came to a fork in the road. After a series of rejections, he considered joining the Merchant Marine and abandoning his dream of acting, but decided to give it one more shot. He soon landed a part in Rumble Fish, directed by his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, and his career took off.

To avoid charges of nepotism, the actor changed his last name to Cage. Now 42, he has practically done it all, starring in such movies as Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas (for which he won an Oscar in 1995), Adaptation and National Treasure.

In taking on his many different roles, Cage draws from personal experience. His father, a university professor, and mother, who was hospitalized for depression during Cage's childhood, divorced when he was 12. He has been married three times, once briefly to Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis. He has a 15-year-old son, Weston, from an early relationship, and a 10-month-old baby boy, Kalel, with current wife Alice Kim, 20 years his junior.

This month Cage plays a character taken from recent history in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, Port Authority Sgt. John McLoughlin and Officer Will Jimeno rushed to the Twin Towers to help, only to be trapped under 30 feet of rubble when the buildings came down. They were among the last survivors pulled from the wreckage.

Cage, who portrays McLoughlin, doesn't view the film as entertainment and hopes that it can help heal a society still traumatized by the events of 9/11. In an exclusive interview with Reader's Digest, Cage talked about the movie, his family and his passions.

RD: What made you decide to become an actor?
Cage: When I was 15, I went to see James Dean in East of Eden. I was so affected by his performance, how it made me feel about my life. It was more meaningful than anything I'd ever read or listened to, and I thought, That's what I want to do. Nothing is going to stop me.

RD: So you went into the business and it all went smoothly?
Cage: I was 17 and had gone on a lot of auditions; nothing had happened. I said, "If I try one more time and it doesn't happen, then I'm going to sea to join the Merchant Marine," because my other passion is the ocean.

RD: So how did it work out?
Cage: I got a part in Rumble Fish, then auditioned for Valley Girl and got that.

RD: You changed your name at around the same time. Why was that?
Cage: It was a time when there was a lot of prejudice because my name was Coppola. Certain actors made it clear to me that I couldn't act but was there as a figure of nepotism. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this.

RD: What inspired the name Cage?
Cage: At a young age, I was interested in comic books, which was really how I learned to read. The name Cage came from a comic book character called Power Man. Later, I discovered John Cage, the avant-garde composer, and thought that he was interesting.

RD: How did your mother's hospitalizations for depression affect you?
Cage: I know it was painful for my mother, and it had to be extremely painful for me and my brothers. But oddly, at the time I didn't seem that affected by it. She's a very loving person, very soulful, and I know that if I didn't have her as my mom, I would not be able to do the things I do. She gave me a sensitivity of feeling. She probably has the soul of an artist, and if she'd had the proper guidance, maybe she could have channeled that.

RD: How is she doing now?
Cage: I bought her a house in the Hollywood Hills, and she's very happy. She loves classical music, and the caretaker is an opera teacher, so there are always opera singers over.

RD: What is your father like?
Cage: He's a brilliant man. He's one of the greatest teachers in my life, because he exposed me to art at such a young age and tried to teach all of us to think in the abstract, which is not the most popular thing to do with kids.

Coping with 9/11

RD: Does the extended Coppola family have regular reunions these days?
Cage: I would like to think of us all at the big table having spaghetti, laughing and listening to the opera, but everyone's off doing their own thing. It's a sad reality -- sort of an American epidemic of family. Now, my wife comes from a Korean family that is so tight-knit. There's an understanding that you will have dinner together, at least once a week. I think it would be helpful if more American families spent more time together.

RD: Tell me about your marriage to Alice.
Cage: It's amazing marrying someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with Hollywood. She doesn't want to act, to make movies -- she's interested in clothes and making her own jewelry, and she's very family-oriented.

RD: How is it having this little baby?
Cage: I'm much more relaxed this time. The first time, you haven't got a clue what you're doing.

RD: Has being a father changed you?
Cage: It's the most significant transformation in my life. When I had Weston at 26, I became less self- involved and more interested in others. Everything we do impacts someone else's life.

RD: Let's talk about World Trade Center. Tell us what happened to John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno.
Cage: They went to help get people out. Then both towers came down. They were stuck at the bottom of all that debris.

RD: You re-create that in the film?
Cage: Oliver [Stone] cast real firefighters and cops who were there that day, rescuers who saved John's life after he'd been stuck for 24 hours. They were re-enacting the experience in a part of the film where I'm teetering between life and death. I was closing my eyes and listening to these men as they were touching me, and I felt like they were angels. It was so important to them to save this man. Yes, there was huge evil and tragedy that day, but there was tremendous love and goodness -- and I felt it like an electric current.

RD: Was it a difficult role for you?
Cage: I felt like I was being called to represent John, and wanted to make sure I got it right. I felt that's how I could give back in some way what they had given to all of us.

RD: You spent time with John preparing for the role. Did he share with you what he went through psychologically?
Cage: The main thing that affected him was the feeling that in some way he'd let his wife and kids down by going into the building. We went to Ground Zero together, and that was very hard. At the memorial, there were letters from kids: "Daddy, I wish you were here. We could play ball." If there's any way that the departed could say to the kids, "I love you," it would happen in the movie.

RD: Why did you choose this role?
Cage: I was at a point in my career where I wanted to apply my abilities to something meaningful and not just entertainment. It's important to let people get their minds off their problems, but I'll never get the images of the planes going into those buildings out of my head. Actors have an opportunity to use storytelling as a way to solve pain.

RD: What about the criticism that this movie comes too soon after the real event, that people aren't ready?
Cage: I don't think it's too soon, because we're living in the age of technology, where everything is faster. And the most impressionable people who saw this were children. How do they cope with what happened?

RD: So you would encourage kids to see this?
Cage: I think I would for kids over 12, with adult supervision, if they were asking a lot of questions about it.

RD: You've said you're happiest when you're working. Are you a workaholic?
Cage: I'm into creating. I'm not anywhere in the league of H. G. Wells, but when people say I work too much, I say, well H. G. Wells wrote a lot of books. Were people going to tell him to stop?

RD: Some people get to a point where they want to spend more time with family and work less.
Cage: I think that's very important. I'm blessed that I've married someone who's been supportive of my work and traveled with me, but there will come a time when I'm not going to be able to move around like I am now. That's part of the reason I'm doing more now.

"Hopeful About Everything"

RD: What makes you a good actor?
Cage: I care about the connection with the audience. Film is such a powerful medium. Movies can change the way people think. So when I go into it, I think, How can I do something with this and be helpful in some way?

RD: How are action movies helpful?
Cage: The world we live in is very violent. Maybe there's something we can learn from the violence itself to prevent people from doing it.

RD: What are you most proud of in terms of what you've done?
Cage: I try not to be proud. I try to actively attack pride. If I can get through a period of time when everything seems to be okay, when the people I care about aren't going through any major strife, I'm happy about that.

RD: Is that how you feel now?
Cage: I feel that things are good. I know that things tend to wax and wane, so I say that with a grain of salt.

RD: What do you do in your free time?
Cage: I spend as much time as I can with my kids. This weekend I'm going to take Weston on our boat to Catalina for a couple of days. Being on the water really relaxes me, so any chance I get, that's where I am. I'm getting to the point now where I feel more comfortable on the water than I do on land.

RD: Where have you gone in the boat?
Cage: The Mediterranean, the Italian Riviera, the Mexican waters, which are loaded with all kinds of animals. And I've gone swimming with sharks.

RD: Where did you do that?
Cage: The Great Barrier Reef. And in South Africa, I'd heard you can dive in a cage with great whites. So we did that -- Weston, Alice and I. My stunt man was also there, and he reached out of the cage and touched the shark. Of course the shark got angry and started ramming the cage. That was scary.

RD: Can they get in the cage?
Cage: No. The only thing is that the boat is going up and down, and the top of the cage is open, so I kept thinking the shark was going to get inside.

RD: So you're 42 now. Was turning the big 4-0 major?
Cage: I started needing glasses to read. But I don't mind wearing them, pulling them out. They're a great prop.

RD: Do you worry about growing old?
Cage: I kinda like it. I feel more relaxed. I'm not as volatile. I can do a lot more good in this stage than I could in my 20s. There's a grace that comes with age. You say the right thing at the right time as opposed to blurting things out. You can get your emotions to work for you rather than run you down. We all have fire in us. It just needs to be harnessed.

RD: Looking back at your life, do you have regrets?
Cage: No. I've made a lot of mistakes, but I've learned from them. Mistakes can be teachers too.

RD: You've done some pretty extreme things for certain roles, like swallowing a cockroach in one movie, for instance. Would you still do that?
Cage: No. One of the pluses of getting older is you set some limits.

RD: In the past, you've said that you've felt like an outsider in a lot of ways. Do you still feel that way?
Cage: I've changed my views. I'm feeling very much a part of -- and one with -- everybody. I'm hopeful about everything these days.

RD: You're not worried about what other people think anymore?
Cage: I'm not worried, and I'm not fearful. I'm happy to be here right now, and trying to enjoy every moment.