Nicolas Cage has starred in enough crazy films to fill several alternate universes, but apparently there’s still one Hollywood “what if” living rent-free in his head: turning down Christopher Nolan.
In a new candid interview with the New York Times before the release of Black SpiderCage admitted he thought the decline of roles for major directors may have quietly closed some doors over the years – including one with Nolan following the demise of 2002 thriller Insomnia.
“Most of them are injured and don’t call you back,” Cage said. “It happened with Christopher Nolan, it happened with Woody Allen, it happened with Paul Thomas Anderson. They don’t call me back.”
This is probably Nicolas Cage’s most uttered phrase: casually naming elite directors as exes who left him on reading.
Cage didn’t reveal exactly why he transformed Insomnia but admitted that a filmmaker surprised him by giving him another shot: David O. Russell.
Actor now stars in upcoming Russell NFL biopic Mad alongside Christian Bale and John Mulaney after previously rejecting one of Russell’s early projects.
“And it was a great experience,” Cage said. “I enjoyed working with David.”
The Oscar winner also revealed the unusual career advice that still guides him today, thanks to music icon David Bowie.
“I asked him, ‘How did you continue to reinvent yourself?’ “, remembers Cage. “He said, ‘I was just never comfortable with what I was doing.'”
Honestly, this explains Nicolas Cage’s entire filmography.
