Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage
NicolasCage.jpg
Nicolas Cage during filming of National Treasure: Book of Secrets in March 2007.
Born Nicholas Kim Coppola
January 7, 1964 (1964-01-07) (age 45)
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation Film actor, producer
Years active 1981 - present
Spouse(s) Patricia Arquette
(1995-2001)
Lisa Marie Presley
(2002-2004)
Alice Kim
(2004-present)

Nicolas Cage (born Nicholas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Oscar-winning American actor, film director and producer, who currently manages his own production company, Saturn Films.[1] He won his first Academy Award for his role in the film Leaving Las Vegas.

Contents

Early life

Cage was born in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, is a professor of literature, while Cage's mother, Joy Vogelsang, is a dancer and choreographer; the two divorced in 1976.[2][3] Cage's mother is of German descent and his father is of Italian descent, with his paternal grandparents being Carmine Coppola, a composer, and Italia Pennino, an actress. Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, as well as the cousin of directors Roman Coppola, and Sofia Coppola and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are Christopher Coppola, a director, and Marc "The Cope" Coppola, a New York radio personality.[4] Cage was born into a Roman Catholic household and remains Catholic to this day, although he said in the mid-1990s that he was not religious.

Cage, who attended Beverly Hills High School (the same high school as fellow entertainers Albert Brooks, Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Rob Reiner, Bonnie Franklin and David Schwimmer), aspired to act from an early age. Cage also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy. He is also good friends with fellow actor Johnny Depp, whom he advised to get into acting.

Career

In order to avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name from Nicholas Coppola to Nicolas Cage early in his career.[5] The assumed surname is inspired by Marvel Comics character Luke Cage, a streetwise superhero. Since his cameo feature film debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's film Rumble Fish.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, and won once, for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in Adaptation. Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller 8mm (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, Lord of War and The Weather Man, failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for The Wicker Man resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics chararacter, was a significant hit, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on 25 March 2007. Also in 2007, he starred in Next, which shares the concept of a glimpse into an alternate time track with The Family Man (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include The Rock, in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, Face/Off, a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and World Trade Center, director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. from the B-movie double feature Grindhouse.

In recent years, Cage made his directorial debut with Sonny, a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp.[1] Cage had a small role in the grim film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes Shadow of the Vampire, the first film from Saturn Films,[6] Cage is listed as the executive producer of the The Dresden Files on the Sci-Fi Channel.

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a Ring of Honor wrestling show in New York City researching his role for the upcoming movie "The Wrestler". Ultimately, Nicolas Cage was replaced in "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke, in a role that is generating Oscar hype for Rourke. [7]

Cage will star in a sci-fi thriller titled Knowing directed by Alex Proyas, scheduled to begin production on 17 March 2008, in Melbourne, Australia. He is to play a teacher who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction.

In the summer of 2008, Nicolas Cage shot the film "Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans" for acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. In the film, Cage will play a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alchol addictions. This film will also reunite Cage with Eva Mendes, who also played his love interest in "Ghost Rider."

Cage will also star in the period piece "Season of the Witch" playing a 14th century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery.

In 2008 he appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film Bangkok Dangerous. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. Cage is the only Caucasian in the film and his hair is styled in a way that makes him look slightly Asian too.

Personal life

In his early 20s, he dated actress/singer Elizabeth Daily for two years, and was later involved with actress Uma Thurman. In 1988, Cage began dating Christina Fulton, mother of their son, Weston Coppola Cage (b. December 26, 1990); Weston appeared in Cage's film Lord of War as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter. Weston is also a devoted fan of heavy metal and on April 16, 2008, he introduced the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir before they played a show at The Grove in Anaheim, California.[8]

Cage has been married multiple times. His first wife was the actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995 – divorce finalized May 18, 2001).

Cage's second wife was singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley (married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce after 108 days of marriage, November 25, 2002; their divorce was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was actually longer than the marriage).[9] — the daughter of Elvis Presley, of whom Cage is a fan and based his performance in Wild at Heart on. He later said they shouldn't have been married in the first place.

His third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki, met Cage at Los Angeles based Korean Nightclub, Le Privé. She is the mother to his son, Kal-El (born October 3, 2005), Superman's birth name from the planet Krypton. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 movie Next, which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Alice lived, but in 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In 2005, he sold his Malibu home for $10 million. In May 2006, he bought a 40-acre (160,000 m2) island in the Exuma archipelago, some 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.[10]

On July 19, 2006, Cage bought the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein (see de:Schloss Neidstein) in the Oberpfalz region in Germany. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel.[11]

In August 2007, Cage purchased a home in Middletown, Rhode Island. The 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m2), brick-and-stone country manor, on 26 secluded acres, has 12 bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean from its perch bordering the Norman Bird Sanctuary. The estate is called the "Grey Craig." The sale ranks among the state’s most expensive residential purchases, eclipsed by the $17.15 million sale last December of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport. Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England.[12][13][14][15][16]

Nicolas was director Sam Raimi's first choice to play Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in the movie Spider-Man. He has even created a comic book, with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which is published by Virgin Comics.

According to Cage, he owns the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.[17] The home is known as the "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie.

Filmography

Year Film Role U.S. Box Office Gross Worldwide Box Office Gross
1980 Brubaker Cameo $25,928,721
1981 Best Of Times Nicholas $15,062,351
1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High Brad's Bud $27,092,880
1983 The Outsiders Cameo in rumble scene $25,600,000
Valley Girl Randy $17,343,596
Rumble Fish Smokey $2,494,480
1984 Racing with the Moon Nicky and Bud $6,045,647
The Cotton Club Vincent Dwyer $25,928,721
Birdy Sergeant Al Columbato $1,455,045
1986 The Boy in Blue Ned Hanlan $275,000
Peggy Sue Got Married Charlie Bodell $41,382,841
1987 Raising Arizona H. I. McDunnough $22,847,564
Moonstruck Ronny Cammareri $80,640,528
1988 Never on Tuesday Man In Red Sports Car N/A
1989 Vampire's Kiss Peter Leow $725,131
1990 Tempo di uccidere Enrico Silvestri N/A
Fire Birds (Also known as Wings of the Apache) Jake Preston $14,760,451
Wild at Heart Sailor $14,560,247
Zandalee Johnny N/A
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas Jack Singer $35,208,854
1993 Amos & Andrew Amos Odell $9,745,803
Deadfall Eddie $18,369
1994 A Century of Cinema Himself N/A
Red Rock West Michael Williams $2,502,551
Guarding Tess Doug Chesnic $27,058,304
It Could Happen to You Charlie Lang $37,939,757
Trapped in Paradise Bill Firpo $6,017,509
1995 Kiss of Death Little Junior Brown $14,942,422
Leaving Las Vegas Ben Sanderson $32,029,928
1996 The Rock Dr. Stanley Goodspeed $134,069,511
1997 Con Air Cameron Poe $101,117,573
Face/Off Castor Troy/Sean Archer $112,276,146
1998 City of Angels Seth $78,685,114
Snake Eyes Rick Santoro $55,591,407
1999 8mm Tom Welles $36,663,315
Bringing Out the Dead Frank Pierce $16,797,191
2000 Gone in Sixty Seconds Randall "Memphis" Raines $103,748,921 $242,901,103
The Family Man Jack Campbell $75,793,305
Welcome to Hollywood Himself N/A
2001 Italian Soldiers Himself N/A
Captain Corelli's Mandolin Captain Antonio Corelli $25,543,895
Christmas Carol: The Movie Jacob Marley (Voice) N/A
2002 Windtalkers Sgt. Joe Enders $40,914,068
Adaptation. Charlie and Donald Kaufman $22,498,520
Sonny Acid Yellow (Also director) $30,005
2003 Matchstick Men Roy Waller $36,906,460
2004 National Treasure Benjamin Gates $173,008,894 $347,512,149
2005 Lord of War Yuri Orlov $24,149,632 $48,467,436
The Weather Man David Spritz $12,482,480
2006 The Ant Bully Zoc (Voice) $28,142,535
The Wicker Man Edward Malus $23,649,127
World Trade Center John McLoughlin $70,278,893 $162,970,240
2007 Ghost Rider Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze $115,802,596 $228,738,393
Grindhouse Dr. Fu Manchu - segment Werewolf Women of the S.S. $25,031,037
Next Cris Johnson $28,149,968 $73,713,174
National Treasure: Book of Secrets Benjamin Gates $247,216,391 $457,346,486
2008 Bangkok Dangerous Joe $15,298,133 $38,678,923
2009 G-Force Speckles (voice) post-production
Knowing Ted Myles post-production
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans The Lieutenant post-production
Astro Boy Dr. Tenma (voice) filming
Kick-Ass Big Daddy filming
2010 Season of the Witch filming
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Tom Hanks
for Forrest Gump		 Academy Award for Best Actor
1995
for Leaving Las Vegas		 Succeeded by
Geoffrey Rush
for Shine

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saturn Films, Cage's production company
  2. ↑ USA WEEKEND Magazine
  3. ↑ Nicolas Cage - Family and Companions - Yahoo!7 Movies
  4. ↑ AOL Interview with Nicolas Cage
  5. ↑ Nicolas Cage Interview: A Fork in the Road
  6. ↑ http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20061211/en_movies_eo/538e2299-5566-4447-a0a5-0bcc3bc26e0a 5
  7. ↑ http://www.sescoops.com/wwe/Hollywood_Heavyweight_Backstage_More_On_Suspensions.shtml SEScoops.com
  8. ↑ "Nicolas Cage's Son, Weston Cage, Introduces Dimmu Borgir in Anaheim, CA". Metal Underground. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
  9. ↑ Cage-Presley Union Now a Memory
  10. ↑ http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1195930,00.html
  11. ↑ Oberpfalznetz - Medienhaus DER NEUE TAG
  12. ↑ "Cage Crowned King Of The Castle". Find a Porperty.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
  13. ↑ "Hollywood actor is king of the castle in Bath". Daily Mail. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  14. ↑ "Nicolas Cage joins Britain's castle-owning classes". The Independent. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  15. ↑ "Nicholas Cage biography". IMDb. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  16. ↑ "Another day, another castle: Cage adds to his empire". Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-01-15.
  17. ↑ Nicholas Cage interview - "The Late Show With David Letterman," Sept. 2, 2008

External links

Academy Award for Best Actor

Henry Fonda (1981) · Ben Kingsley (1982) · Robert Duvall (1983) · F. Murray Abraham (1984) · William Hurt (1985) · Paul Newman (1986) · Michael Douglas (1987) · Dustin Hoffman (1988) · Daniel Day-Lewis (1989) · Jeremy Irons (1990) · Anthony Hopkins (1991) · Al Pacino (1992) · Tom Hanks (1993) · Tom Hanks (1994) · Nicolas Cage (1995) · Geoffrey Rush (1996) · Jack Nicholson (1997) · Roberto Benigni (1998) · Kevin Spacey (1999) · Russell Crowe (2000)

 · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Tom Hanks (1994) · Nicolas Cage (1995) · Geoffrey Rush (1996) · Jack Nicholson (1997) · Roberto Benigni (1998) · Kevin Spacey (1999) · Benicio del Toro (2000)

 · (1994-2000) · (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME Cage, Nicolas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coppola, Nicholas Kim (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Beach, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH