Out There with Nicholas Cage

Q: You were rejected when you auditioned for your uncle's film The Outsiders. Didn't he have anything to do with the casting?

A: Of course he did. He obviously didn't want me in the movie.

Q: Did you go through the auditioning process on Coppola's next one, Rumble Fish?

A: No, that time I read with the other actors and was very surprised when I got the part, because I wasn't auditioning for it. So I was thrilled.

Q: How thrilled were you when Francis had you do one scene 42 times?

A: I still don't know what the reason for that was. My first two takes were my best. I got a phone call after that movie from my father who said, "You're too restrained as an actor and I'm getting this from a very high level. I don't think you have what it takes." I thought, who the hell's he been talking to? I guess people in my family were not impressed with the character. It wasn't until Valley Girl, when I changed my name, that I felt like the weight of that name was off of me. Nobody knew I was related to Francis, and I was able to get the role on my own merit, which meant a lot to me. Later Martha Coolidge said that if she had known, it might have colored her perception. But the fact that I was in Rumble Fish had a lot to do with my getting it, so in that way Francis really helped me. He gave me some cachet. But it wasn't until he saw Valley Girl that he saw I could act.

Q: You called Matt Dillon an "airhead" after Rumble Fish--has he changed since then?

A: Well, I don't think of Matt Dillon as an airhead now. He's a darn good actor. The funny thing about growing up in movies is when you start acting at 17 you say things sometimes like a 17-year-old and those things come back to haunt you when you're 32. People have to be allowed to grow.

Q: You were in two films with Sean Penn--_Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ and Racing With the Moon. Did you get along with him?

A: We've had a few volatile moments, because we're both kind of outspoken about our feelings. I don't have much contact with him any more. I saw his performance in Dead Man Walking and thought it was fantastic.

Q: What other actors or performances have you liked recently?

A: I like Christopher Walken, he's one of my favorite actors. And I really enjoyed Al Pacino in Heat. I liked both his and De Niro's performances tremendously, but I went with Pacino's for the style and energy of it.

Q: Did you actually whisper "clouds in my coffee" in Carly Simon's ear at The Cotton Club premiere?

A: Yes. I took a program, rolled it up, put it to her ear and whispered, "clouds in my coffee." She whipped her head around, snarled, and I looked at my friend like he did it.

Q: You seem to have an ability to get under people's skin. In Peggy Sue Got Married, did Kathleen Turner blame you for ruining the film by the way you played your character, with that voice?

A: I don't think she blamed me after she saw the movie, but while we were making it she was, you know, "What are you doing? You're ruining the movie." She was dealing with what? Jerry Lewis on acid, I was reading books on Edward Munch then, how everyone hated his works. So I thought I had to be met with opposition, because I had this arrogant, headstrong attitude at 22. I was delighted when I got horrible reviews. I would have been miserable if I had not gotten bad reviews. I even cut them out. One said I was "a wart on an otherwise beautiful film." Another, "a poorly wired robot."

Q: Cher really wanted you in Moonstruck, because she saw Peggy Sue Got Married and said you were her guy. What did she see that probably no other actress would have?

A: I love her for that. She had just recovered from a car accident and she said that the Charlie Bodell character I played was like watching a two-hour car accident.

Q: Rosie Perez said when she acted with you that basically you're just a nerd.

A: Did she say that? Well, I am kind of a nerd.

Q: Are you also a gambler? Sarah Jessica Parker said during Honeymoon in Vegas she saw you drop a lot of money at the tables.

A: I'm not a gambler, though at that moment I was. What I would do was double down to get the money I lost back. One time I doubled down and I lost it all, which was quite a bit of money.

Q: Over $10,000?

A: In that arena. Then I went to bed and woke up a half hour earlier than my set call, so I went to the tables, doubled down the money I lost, got it back, and I never did it again. I don't ever want to feel like that again.

Q: The advertising campaign seems to be in full swing for your next film, The Rock, with Sean Connery. What was it like acting with the guy who looks like your father?

A: It gave me a mentor-like relationship, which is very difficult for actors to find. He likes actors and he doesn't like to be bullshitted or double-crossed. He validated some of my thoughts that I was concerned about. He's enjoying a career where he's at the top of his form at his age, which is remarkable. I mean, who gets to act that long and still be an event with every movie? I would ask him questions about determining image--you know the movie star image. What about an actor who wants to change his voice or his look? He said, "Don't worry about that, don't concern yourself with the image. Just do your work."

Q: You've said that you've always been attracted to crazy women because in their craziness was infinity. What does that mean?

A: With a crazy woman you're floating in space, so it's an infinity. Space and time break down in a way that you don't really know where you are.

Q: You've also said that when you're with someone who's a really good person, you feel really corrupt with them. Why?

A: It's like Dmitry in The Brothers Karamazov. He was with that woman who was supposed to be a saint and she is the one who betrayed him in the end. The one who treated him like dog-doo was the one who actually stuck up for him in the end. I guess I'm attracted to people who have bad stories to tell--I feel simpatico with them.

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