Nicolas Cage

'''Nicolas Cage''' (born '''Nicolas Kim Coppola''' on January 7, 1964 and often called '''Nic Cage''') is an Academy Award-winning American actor, director, and producer.

Early Life

Nicolas Cage was born in Long Beach, California (where he spent parts of his youth, along with San Francisco). He is of German and Italian descent. His parents are August Floyd Coppola, a comparative literature professor and influential director Francis Ford Coppola's brother, and Joy Vogelsang, a choreographer and dancer, who suffered chronic severe depression. His mother's frequent hospitalization kept her away from the family for long periods of time. Cage's parents eventually divorced.

His first professional (non-cinematic) acting experience was in a school production of ''Golden Boy''.

Career

Nicolas Cage is famous for his very diverse role choices. Throughout his career he has alternated between big-budget, mainstream epics and low-budget, offbeat fare. Since his feature film debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High over two decades ago, he has insisted on appearing in a wide variety of films.

The more mainstream films (which had larger budgets and, often, better box office receipts) include:

*''Con Air''
*''Face/Off''
*''Gone In 60 Seconds''
*''National Treasure''
*''The Rock''

Incidentally, all of these films were either produced or co-produced by Buena Vista Pictures.

In addition to these films, Cage has performed in films with smaller budgets and more intimate or even controversial plots as well. These include:

*''Adaptation.''
*''Leaving Las Vegas''
*''Lord of War''
*''Matchstick Men''
*''The Weather Man''
*''Wild at Heart''

In recent years, Cage has experimented in other film-related fields besides acting, including directing and producing. His directorial debut was ''Sonny'', a prostitution-themed drama starring James Franco, Brenda Blethyn, and Mena Suvari. Cage had a cameo appearance in the film, which received mixed reviews and experienced a short run in theatres. His producing career, on the other hand, has seen more success. The first film produced by Saturn Films, a production company he started with Norm Golightly, was ''Shadow of the Vampire'' which was nominated for an Academy Award. Another film Cage produced is the star-studded ''The Life of David Gale''.

He is scheduled to appear in many upcoming films including:

*''Ghost Rider''
*''Next''
*''Time to Kill''
*''The Wicker Man''
*''National Treasure 2''

Personal Life

Nicolas Cage has had romantic relationships with Patricia Arquette, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Lisa Marie Presley (he was married to the first and third). He had his first son, Weston (born December 26, 1990), with actress Christina Fulton. He is currently married to Korean-American Alice Kim, a former sushi waitress from Los Angeles. They had a child on October 3, 2005, named Kal-El, the birth name of Superman in the DC comics universe.

Trivia

*Ever since ''Valley Girl'' he's been credited as Nicolas Cage instead of Nicolas Coppola. He did this to avoid charges of nepotism as the name led to immediate association with his uncle, The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. The name Cage is a reference to Luke Cage, an insecure African American superhero from the Marvel comics universe whom Nicolas identifies with.
*Trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Royce Gracie.
*Is a devoted fan of Elvis Presley and was married to his daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
*Ranked #40 in ''Empire'' magazine's (UK) "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in October 1997.
*Got Johnny Depp his first acting job.
*Owns a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.
*Proposed to Patricia Arquette on the day he met her in the early 80s. Arquette thought he was a bit strange but played along with his antics by creating a list of things Cage would have to fulfil to win her. When he started to work his way through the list, Arquette got scared and avoided him. They met again many years later and later went on to marry.
*He lives in a fake castle on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He wants to import an authentic one from overseas.
*Loves to improvise, occasionally to the annoyance of other cast members.
*Did an improvised monologue in SNL, which disappointed Lorne Michaels due to jokes about female breasts and buttocks.
*Collects comic books and sees them as being today's equivalent of mythology.
*Has a tattoo of comic character Ghost Rider, which ironically required covering makeup to allow Cage to play Ghost Rider in the film.
*The ''Wild at Heart'' movie poster lists his name as both "Nicolas Cage" and "Nicholas Cage".
*Suffers from vertigo.
*Tim Burton cast Cage in his doomed Superman project. Cage even did fittings of the costume.
*Ate a live cockroach in ''Vampire's Kiss''.
*On his upper back he has a tattoo of monitor lizard with a top hat.
*Given an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton in May 2001. Cage spoke at the commencement.
*During an A&E Biography on him, the host explained that Nicolas was director Sam Raimi's first choice to play Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in the movie ''Spider-Man''. Apparently this was before he met Willem Dafoe.
*On ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'', he told Jay that he took the name "Cage" from a comic book character named Luke Cage, the "first black superhero". When asked which of the powers he would prefer to have, he said flight was his desire.
*Went to the same High School as Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, David Schwimmer, Gina Gershon, Rob Reiner, Pauly Shore, Albert Brooks, and Crispin Glover.
*Close friends with Jim Carrey since they worked on ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' together.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
rowspan="1"
2008
''The Dance''
Billy "The Kid" Roth

rowspan="4"
2007
''Next
Cris Johnson
Also producer
''Ghost Rider
Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider

''Time to Kill''

This is Cage's second film with this title, the first being one he made in 1990.
''National Treasure 2''
Ben Gates

rowspan="3"
2006
''The Wicker Man
Edward Maulis
Also producer
''World Trade Center
Sgt. John McLoughlin

''The Ant Bully''
Zoc (Voice)

rowspan="2"
2005
''The Weather Man''
David Spritz

''Lord of War''
Yuri Orlov
Also producer
2004
''National Treasure''
Ben Gates

2003
''Matchstick Men''
Roy Waller

rowspan="3"
2002
''Adaptation.''
Charlie/Donald Kaufman
Nominated for Academy Award - Best Actor
''Sonny''
Acid Yellow
Also director and producer
''Windtalkers''
Sergeant Joe Enders

rowspan="3"
2001
''Christmas Carol: The Movie''
Jacob Marley (Voice)

''Captain Corelli's Mandolin''
Captain Antonio Corelli

''Italian Soldiers''

Documentary
rowspan="3"
2000
''Welcome to Hollywood''

Documentary
''Gone in Sixty Seconds''
Randall "Memphis" Raines

''The Family Man''
Jack Campbell

rowspan="2"
1999
''Bringing Out the Dead''
Frank Pierce

''8mm''
Tom Welles

rowspan="3"
1998
''Junket Whore''

Documentary
''Snake Eyes''
Rick Santoro

''City of Angels''
Seth

rowspan="3"
1997
''Face/Off''
Caster Troy/Sean Archer

''Con Air''
Cameron Poe

''Sean Connery, an Intimate Portrait''

Documentary
1996
''The Rock''
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed

rowspan="2"
1995
''Leaving Las Vegas''
Ben Sanderson
Won Academy Award - Best Actor
''Kiss of Death''
Little Junior Brown

rowspan="4"
1994
''Trapped in Paradise''
Bill Firpo

''It Could Happen to You''
Charlie Lang

''Guarding Tess''
Doug Chesnic

''A Century of Cinema''

Documentary
rowspan="2"
1993
''Amos & Andrew''
Amos Odell

''Deadfall''
Eddie

rowspan="2"
1992
''Honeymoon in Vegas''
Jack Singer

''Red Rock West''
Michael Williams

1991
''Zandalee''
Johnny

rowspan="3"
1990
''Wild at Heart''
Sailor

''Fire Birds''
Jake Preston

''Time to Kill''
Enrico Silvestri

1989
''Vampire's Kiss''
Peter Leow

1988
''Never on Tuesday''
Man In Red Sports Car
Cameo
rowspan="2"
1987
''Moonstruck''
Ronny Cammareri

''Raising Arizona''
H. I. McDunnough

rowspan="2"
1986
''Peggy Sue Got Married''
Charlie Bodell

''The Boy in Blue''
Ned Hanian

rowspan="3"
1984
''Birdy''
Sergeant l Columbato

''The Cotton Club''
Vincent Dwyer

''Racing with the Moon''
Nicky/Bud

rowspan="2"
1983
''Rumble Fish''
Smokey

''Valley Girl''
Randy

1982
''Fast Times at Ridgemont High''
Brad's Bud

Biography courtesy of the brilliant Wikipedia!

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