The Good Times of Nicolas Cage

Q: You told Playboy that Francis blamed you after all about the failure of Peggy Sue, and that he hasn't asked you to work with him since. Did he react to that comment?

A: I love Francis and his movies, I would have liked to have been in any of them. I feel bad for anything that I've said that might have hurt anybody in my family My family is part of who I am, so it's important to understand when you ask me questions about them, that's part of my chemistry. But it's very easy to get seduced by a dialogue with somebody. The easiest thing to do is just not talk about family.

Q: What Francis did say to Vanity Fair about you was that he wished you kept the Coppola name.

A: I think a lot of people are angry about that. But I know why I did it and I stand by it. But I'm sorry if I've hurt anybody's feelings because I changed my name. I'm both--I'm Coppola and I'm Cage.

Q: What movies changed you as a kid?

A: Pinocchio was a big influence on me. The Red Balloon. Willy Wonka.

Q: What movies have you seen more than any other?

A: De Palma's Scarface. A Clockwork Orange. And Apocalypse Now.

Q: What's your favorite scene in a movie?

A: I love all the stuff with Martin Sheen at the beginning of Apocalypse Now, where he's losing it and smashing the mirror.

Q: Which takes us back to a quote of yours: "It was revenge that fueled much of my ambition." When did you say that?

A: Earlier on. Not anymore. This is from an old article, and these things come back to bite you on the ass. I said a lot of this stuff when I was 17. I'm 34 now. Like any teenager, I had a lot of anger at my family and friends. Most of that came from not being able to get the girl or being a kid in school who was called a weirdo or being an outsider or being teased because I couldn't play sports.

Q: You said being a father has had more of an impact on your life than anything else. In what ways, besides giving up smoking and buckling your seat belt?

A: Any parent knows it opens up huge doors of feeling. I became a responsible citizen when I became a father. I became a member of the community. I care more about people than I ever did before becoming a father.

Q: Has Weston seen any of your films yet?

A: No.

Q: When you think he's ready, which film will it be?

A: Probably Raising Arizona.

Q: Are you and Patricia planning on having children together?

A: Right now our plate is full.

Q: You've been married three years now. Are you more in love now than when you married?

A: Yes, I am more in love. We all know that marriage takes work; you don't just throw in the towel when there's any kind of a problem, you work through it.

Q: Patricia's made seven movies since you married, and you have done nearly as many. How hard is it to be working all the time?

A: You definitely keep things fresh and never get tired of each other, but there's something to be said for getting into a routine where we could see each other more. It works both ways.

Q: Any plans on working together?

A: Absolutely, yeah. It's just that she's been very busy and so have I, so it just hasn't worked out.

Q: Do you share acting tips when you're together?

A: We don't really talk that much about it. If she comes home and is excited about something she did I'll listen and I'll say, "Oh, that was a great choice," or she'll be the same way about something I did. But generally speaking we don't really help each other with our decision-making process. We don't read each other's scripts.

Q: Did Miles Davis ever help you feel what you were doing was all right?

A: I see Miles Davis as a surrealist father of mine. He was the first person to believe in me as an actor, the one who first said he understood what I was talking about. It was on "The Dick Cavett Show." Before we went on he said to me, "Why aren't you wearing your leather jacket? Didn't you learn anything from Dennis Hopper?" Because I was wearing a suit. Then I went out and started talking about how if Picasso could paint surreal, why couldn't actors try to achieve that as well? Then Miles came on, and he was very considerate and he said, "I hear what you're saying." He kept looking at me like we had our own connection. Ever since then he stayed in my thoughts. He said the words I needed to hear to keep going with my choices. It's weird because my surrealist name, Cage, is actually taken from a black character, Luke Cage.

Q: Have you made a movie you don't like?

A: I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. Even the failures I feel I've learned from. In some ways I got more out of those than the ones people respond to more.

Q: Would you agree with Robert Evans's assessment of the movie business: "There's no glamour in this business. There's accountants, lawyers, agents. For every bit of magic you spend a month of misery in negotiations. Things get made for the wrong reasons. And you fight on everything."

A: No, there are elements of that, but there are also great moments where you do feel glamorous and excited about the possibility of working with some people you have admired. It's true that the moviemaking process is not la-la-land, it's not the fun that people often think it is--some of it can be brutal work. I've worked 18-hour days, and that's not nine to five. But it's worth it. I feel very happy and lucky with what I'm doing and being paid to do what I want to do. I don't think I could do anything else.

Q: Is this the best time of your life?

A: Yeah, it's one of them. But I'm always afraid to say that because as soon as you do, then something goes wrong.

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Lawrence Grobel interviewed Jim Carrey for the May '98 issue of Movieline.

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