Nicolas Cage

Real Name: Nicolas Kim Coppola
Birthdate: January 7, 1964
Birthplace: Long Beach, CA
Parents: August Coppola, Joy Vogelsang
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Marital Status: (Sorry Ladies) Married to actress Patricia Arquette since April 8, 1995
Kids: Weston Coppola Cage born in 1992
Favorite Color: Purple
Favorite Music: Likes it all!
Cars: Several Lamborghinis, Several Ferraris, '67 metallic-blue Corvette Stingray nicknamed the "Blue Shark",'67  Chevelle, and a Bentley
Pets: Monitor Lizard named Dr. Sheen
Interesting Relative: Francis Ford Coppola, Director

    In an interesting twist of fate, Nicolas Cage discovered his love for acting because he was the self-proclaimed "Skinny, little runt of a kid" that is every bully's dream. In the fourth grade, Nicholas Cage (at the time he was named Nick Coppola) was constantly tormented by a bully that loved to steal his twinkies. To retaliate, Nicholas dressed as a cowboy by using his brothers jeans, cowboy boots, slicking back his hair and finding a nice pair of sunglasses to complete the ensemble. When he confronted the bully in his new costume, he said his name was Roy Wilkonson and was Nicky's cousin. He also threatened that if he didn't leave his cousin alone he would get a serious @ss-kicking! The funniest thing is that the bully bought it! He was never troubled by the twinky-stealer again. In another situation Nicolas fought off a bully using an Incredible Hulk routine: ripping off his shirt and screaming wildly while the aggressor ran away.
    His family life during childhood was far from normal. He spent summers with his Uncle Francis Ford Coppola in San Francisco and those were "the best memories that he has." He was always causing problems--he once lit a firecracker in his cousins' room, exploding a blender! His father was a big influence on his life. August Coppola was a teacher of comparative literature at Cal State Long Beach and exposed his children to classical music, literature, and film. He was trying to push their artistic minds as opposed to the academic. His mother, on the other hand, was often hospitalized with severe depression and absent for most of his childhood. This had a severe impact on Nic's performing career, as he felt that many of his greatest performances stemmed from this part of his life. When he was the age of 12, however, his parents divorced and he moved in with his father in San Francisco.
    Nicolas finally aspired to be an actor at the age of 15 after watching the film "East of Eden." He felt he could relate to the character of James Dean and the need to please his father. Following this "enlightening" so to speak, he enrolled in Young Conservatory, part of American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, but only spent one summer there. Shortly thereafter, his family moved back to Southern California and attended Beverly Hills High School. He was a self-proclaimed dork and found it hard to adapt to the social pressures of everyday teenage life. It was rumored that he dropped out of high school, but he really finished early after assing a proficiency exam.
    After finishing high school, with the help of his uncle, Nicolas Coppola finally realized his dream of becoming a paid actor. Being the nephew of a famous director had it's drawbacks, however, as envious cast members would often give him a hard time about his relationship. In a bold move, Nicolas decided to change his name. He toyed with many different names (Nick Blue, Nick Faust, Nick Mascalzone) before finally deciding on Nicolas Cage. The decision came about as a tribute to a black, comic book hero Luke Cage as well as the composer John Cage. With a new name, he auditioned for a part in the film Valley Girl, and finally escaped the burden of the Coppola name. Even the director admits that if she would have known his relationship to Francis, she would have looked at him from a "colored perspective."
    In the early stages of his career, Nicolas Cage was well known not for his on screen brilliance, but for his off-screen antics. It was rumored that he had even trashed his trailer on the set ofThe Cotton Club. In another interesting role, he ate a live cocroach for a scene in Vampire's Kiss. Since then, he has always been associated with cockroaches for some reason...
    In one of his first major roles, he was casted in the film Peggy Sue Got Married, a film which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola himself. He incorporated buckteeth and a Gumby voice into the character after his uncle let him take a little artistic license. The critics hated it and went so far as to say that he was a "wart on an otherwise beautiful film." Many executives felt that he should be fired and was only kept on after some encouragement from the director. Nicolas Cage was undaunted, nonetheless, and as a matter of fact welcomed the criticism. He felt as if he was doing something to challenge the critics and to change acting at the time. He knows now that it's impossible to do such a thing now, but overall he was pleased with the result of the film. His uncle hasn't offered him a role since.
    His first film that hit the bigtime was Moonstruck in 1986. Cher had noticed him from his performance in Peggy Sue Got Married, and although Nicolas Cage portrayed his character in Moonstruck in a much darker light than the director had intended, and most of his work was cut so he wouldn't "overshadow" the other actors, he still recieved a Golden Globe Nomination for the role.
    Shortly following Moonstruck, Nicolas Cage felt he wanted to try something completely different, so he scored a role in Vampire's Kiss. He was a fan of Germanistic impressionist acting, so he used that style throughout the film. As some would describe him, he was a man gone mad! In one scene, Nicolas was supposed to eat a raw egg, but he had a better idea. He thought it would make a longer impression on the audience if he ate a live cockroach! As a matter of fact, he had to do it twice since the first shot wasn't exactly what the director was looking for. It didn't have the effect that Nic had originally intended, plus he had nightmares for weeks after the shooting considering he was already terrified of bugs. He took a long hiatus following this film, and wasn't seen again until the film Zandalee in 1990.
    Although he acted in several cult classics such as Raising Arizona, his major leap into mainstream movies didn't come until he filmed Honeymoon in Vegas with James Caan and Sarah Jessica Parker. After doing three films - Honeymoon in Vegas, It Could Happen to You, and Guarding Tess - that he entitles the "Sunshine Trilogy," Cage had made some money to finally do some independent films, including the drama Leaving Las Vegas. This film that gave him recognition which many fans and critics felt was long overdue, was a dramatic film in which he plays an alcoholic that goes to Las Vegas to die. When he began studying for his role, he travelled to Ireland to be in the heart of drinking country, and even videotaped himself while he was intoxicated in order to better understand his slurred speech patterns after drinking. When Oscar nominations were announced, Cage was the automatic "frontrunner" which put a lot more stress on an otherwise stressful time. After winning the Oscar, he ran up to the podium and gave a beautiful speech and shouted out a special I love you to his son Weston. In my opinion, this Oscar was well deserved and will forever be the crowning achievement in Nicolas Cage's film career.
    From there, Nicolas Cage did not take the typical path of an Oscar award winning actor. He starred in the film The Rock, in which he was a sensitive super-hero that stopped the bad guys alongside Sean Connery. He also followed that film with two other big-budget action films, Con Air and Face/Off. He then proceeded back into a dramatic role with his performance in City of Angels and his other thriller Snake Eyes.Currently, he finished filming the film 8 MM, which is due out this February.

Filmography

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982 Comedy)
Rumble Fish (1983, Drama)
Valley Girl (1983, Comedy)
Racing with the Moon (1984, Drama)
The Cotton Club (1984, Crime drama)
Birdy (1984, Drama)
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986, Comedy/Drama)
The Boy in Blue (1986, Drama)
Raising Arizona (1987, Comedy)
Moonstruck (1987, Romantic comedy) -  Golden Globe Nomination
Never on Tuesday (1988)
Vampire's Kiss (1989, Dark comedy)
Zandalee (1990, Film noir)
Wild at Heart (1990, Drama/Romance)
Time to Kill ~ a.k.a. Tempo di Uccidere~ (1990)
Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990)
Firebirds (1990, Action)
Red Rock West (1992, Film noir)
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992, Comedy) - Golden Globe nomination
Deadfall (1993, Film noir)
Amos & Andrew (1993, Satirical comedy)
Trapped in Paradise (1994, Comedy)
It Could Happen to You (1994, Romantic comedy)
Guarding Tess (1994, Comedy)
Kiss of Death (1995, Crime drama)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995, Drama) - Awards: Academy Award, Golden           Globe award, and Screen Actors Guild award
The Rock (1996, Action)
Con Air (1997, Action)
Face/Off (1997, Action)
City of Angels (1998, Drama)
Snake Eyes (1998, Action-Thriller)
8 MM (Rleasing Feb 26, 1999, Thriller) ~View the trailer

Nicolas Cage Gallery