Nicolas Cage Interview (page 3 of 3)

"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.

From Reader's Digest - August 2006

 

• Actors
• • Sept. 11

• Nicolas Cage Bio on biography.com
• 
• Meet the Heroes of September 11
• "Our lives have changed forever."
• 
• Rudy Giuliani: The Leader
• New York City's mayor Rudy Giuliani: "Courage is about managing fear."
• 
• Rudy Giuliani: Guts, Grace and Glory
• In the grim days after September 11, New York's mayor, Rudy Giuliani, kept hearing his father's words: "Courage is doing what you have to do even though you are afraid."
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• Rudy Giuliani Gives Away a Special Bride
• Five days after 9/11, Mayor Rudy Giuliani escorts the sister of a fallen firefighter down the aisle.
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• Who Financed 9/11?
• One family's quest to trace the money behind the murders.
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• Lauren Manning World Trade Center Survivor
• Badly burned in the World Trade Center, Lauren Manning had the will to live.
• 
• Lauren Manning 5 Years After September 11
• "I'm moving forward."
•