Nicolas Cage
ALL ABOUT NICHOLAS CAGE
Full Name:Nicholas Kim Coppola
Date of Birth:January 07, 1964
Place of Birth:Long Beach, CA
Spouse: Alice Kim (former sushi waitress; married June 2004), Lisa Marie Presley(singer; began dating April 2001; married August 2002; filed for divorce November 2002), Patricia Arquette (actress; born April 8, 1968; married April 1995; divorced May 2001)
Son: Kal-El Coppola Cage (born on October 3, 2005 in New York City; mother Alice Kim), Weston Coppola Cage (born on December 26, 1990; mother: Kristina Fulton)
Relationship: Kristen Zang (together 1992-94; engaged; engagement and relationship ended 1994), Lori Allison, Kristina Fulton (actress; born 1957; dated; relationship ended 1991), Sarah Jessica Parker (actress; had one-year relationship; no longer together)
Family: Father - August Coppola (comparative literature professor), Mother - Joy Vogelsang (dancer/choreographer), Brother - Christopher Coppola (director; born on January 25, 1962) and Marc Coppola (actor, disc jockey; born in 1958), Grandfather - Carmine Flautist Coppola (composer, musical arranger; born on June 11, 1910; died on April 26, 1991), Aunt - Talia Shire (actress; born on April 25, 1945)
Bio:
Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American actor.
Born Nicholas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California to August Coppola, an Italian American writer and professor, and Joy Vogelsang, a German American dancer. In 1974 he got to meet H.B ‘Toby’ Halicki at the Rosecrans Car Wash while Halicki was filming Gone in 60 Seconds. In 1976, Cage’s parents divorced and he moved to Beverly Hills with his father. He is the nephew of both Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire.
Cage became passionate about acting at an early age, which became so much that he left high school early, got his GED, and went to pursue his career. Cage changed his name early in order to try to make his own way in acting without benefiting from his uncle’s reputation. He chose the name Cage after the Marvel comic book hero Luke Cage, Power Man and avant-garde composer John Cage.
He had a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (credited under the Coppola name), most of which ended on the cutting room floor. His next notable roles were in the 1983 movies Rumble Fish and Valley Girl, which was his breakout role.
He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). He has developed a reputation for alternating roles in action movies with more serious character-driven dramas, as well as the occasional black comedy. His most recent appearances were in Lord of War as a charismatic arms dealer and The Weather Man as a depressed celebrity weather man. In
2000 he got to do a remake of Halicki’s film with the production of Gone In 60 Seconds.
He has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born 1990), by model Kristina Fulton. On April 8, 1995 he married actress Patricia Arquette, whom he divorced on May 18, 2001. On August 10, 2002 he married Lisa Marie Presley and filed for divorce less than four months later. They divorced on May 16, 2004. He married former waitress Alice Kim on July 30, 2004, in a private ceremony in northern California. He has another son (named after DC hero Superman), Kal-el Coppola Cage (born October 3, 2005 in New York City), by Kim.
He was instrumental in helping Johnny Depp’s acting career, whom Cage befriended while Depp was still trying to get his foot in the door. Cage arranged for his agent to meet with Depp.
He also is a big fan of comic books, with his favorite character being Marvel Comics’ Ghost Rider, a carnival motorcyclist bent on revenge. He has been attached for a movie adaptation for years, and eventualy landed the role of Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider’s alter ego. The Ghost Rider movie is slated for release in 2006.
Trivia:
Nicolas Cage has a Ghost Rider tattoo that they they had to cover up for the movie, Ghost Rider.
He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in movies. It is located at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Nicolas has bought a, 2 million Euro costing, Bavarian castle called Schloss Neidstein. The 500 year old castle sits on a hill In
Etzelwang, Germany, with a view of 160ha of forest. It boasts 28 rooms, including 10 bedrooms and five bathrooms.
He lives in a fake castle on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He wants to import an authentic one from overseas.
Nicolas is close friends with Jim Carrey since they worked on Peggy Sue Got Married together.
He owns a Lamborghini that used to belong to the Shah of Iran.
He is going to appear in many upcoming films including The Ant Bully, Ghost Rider, Next ,The Wicker Man, World Trade Center.
He is of German and Italian descent.
He’s top movies include, Con Air, Face/Off, Gone In 60 Seconds, National Treasure, The Rock. These all were either produced or co-produced by Buena Vista
Nicolas Cage has donated $2,7 million to establish a fund for former child soldiers. Amnesty International have said the money will be used for rehabilitation shelters, medical services and psychological and reintegration services for children forced to take part in armed conflicts worldwide. While most child soldiers are in their teens, some are as young as seven years old.
Nicolas played Ben Gates in the movie “National Treasure.”
In 1997, Nicolas won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Action/Adventure for: The Rock (1996).
In 1998, Nicolas won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Action/Adventure for: Face/Off (1997). He also won for Con Air (1997).
In 1999, Nicolas won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Suspense for: Snake Eyes (1998).
In 1999, Nicolas won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Drama/Romance for: City of Angels (1998).
In 2001, Nicolas was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Action for: Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000).
In 2001, Nicolas won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Comedy/Romance for: The Family Man (2000).
In 1996, Nicolas was nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for: Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
In 2003, Nicolas was nominated for the BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for: Adaptation (2002).
In 1998, Nicolas was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actor for: Face/Off (1997).
In 1996, Nicolas won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for: Leaving Las Vegas (1995).
Nicolas trains in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Royce Gracie.
Nicolas is an avid Elvis Presley fan, and even has a shrine to “The King” in his home.
Nicolas is a noted comic book collector and sees them as being today’s equivalent of mythology.
His name is taken from a comic book character, Luke Cage.
Nicolas inspired his cousin, Robert Schwartzman to change his name to Robert Schwartsman-Cage.
Nicolas suffers from vertigo.
Nicolas is the grandson of Carmine Coppola.
He is the brother of Marc Coppola and Christopher Coppola.
He is very close friends with Tom Waits.
He is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire.
He was engaged to Kristen Zang.
Nicolas is half German, half Italian.
He married Lisa Marie Presley on August 10, 2002 and got divorced May 16, 2004.
Nicolas: My father was always getting excited about something. It’s genetically inside me somewhere.
Nicolas: It’s a family that’s loaded with grudges and passion. We come from a long line of robbers and highwaymen in Italy, you know. Killers, even.
Nicolas: I’m sad about this, but we shouldn’t have been married in the first place.
Nicolas: Hollywood didn’t know if I was an actor or a nut or if I was this crazy character I was playing. I had developed an image of being a little bit unusual, different and wild.
Nicolas has a baby boy named Kal-el Coppola Cage.
He is currently married to Alice Kim.
He changed his name to avoid coasting on his famous uncle’s (Francis Ford Coppola) coattails.
In 1984, he was listed as one of twelve “Promising New Actors of 1984″ in John Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 36.
In October of 1997, he was ranked #40 in Empire (UK) Magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list.
Cage was ranked #37 in Premiere’s 100 most powerful people in Hollywood in 1998.
Quotes:
“Classes were always a bore to me. I wanted to learn things on my own, not by presentations.I was a loudmouth and a clown. It came as a surprise to me, later, that I could be serious and still get attention.”
“As a teenager I was more of an anarchist, but now I want people to thrive and be harmonious.”
“Billy Roth’s story truly spoke to my heart; despite the darkness and intense despair, an unlikely and flawed character is able to find and provide hope to others,” [Cage said in a statement]
“I consider cars to be objects of art, and since I can’t drive a Picasso, I drive them instead. They symbolize freedom.”
‘I guess a lot of people have thought of my work as odd and yet they meet me and they say, “Well, this is a normal conversation we’re having, why is the work so odd?” In reality, I’m actually downright boring.’
“Hollywood didn’t know if I was an actor or a nut or if I was this crazy character I was playing. I had developed an image of being a little bit unusual, different and wild.”
“To be a good actor you have to be something like a criminal, to be willing to break the rules to strive for something new.”
“I welcomed the idea of bad reviews because that would mean I was doing something that challenged the critics. I thought I could change acting, which isn’t really my goal anymore. But at that time I was headstrong.”
“As a teen-ager I was more of an anarchist, but now I want people to thrive and be harmonious. - US Weekly. Issue 249.”
“Passion is very important to me. If you stop enjoying things, you’ve got to look at it, because it can lead to all kinds of depressing scenarios.”
“Shock is still fun. I won’t ever shut the door on it.”
“I was always shocked when I went to the doctor’s office and they did my X-ray and didn’t find that I had eight more ribs than I should have or that my blood was the color green. [on feeling different from friends as a kid]”
“My father was always getting excited about something. It’s genetically inside me somewhere.”
“It’s a family that’s loaded with grudges and passion. We come from a long line of robbers and highwaymen in Italy, you know. Killers, even.”
“Classes were always a bore to me. I wanted to learn things on my own, not by presentations.I was a loudmouth and a clown. It came as a surprise to me, later, that I could be serious and still get attention.”
“I am not a demon. I am a lizard, a shark, a heat-seeking panther. I want to be Bob Denver on acid playing the accordion.”
“I cry a lot. My emotions are very close to my surface. I don’t want to hold anything in so it it festers and turns into pus - a pustule of emotion that explodes into a festering cesspool of depression.”
“The next morning [after winning the Oscar], I’m downtown… walking by the newstand, and it was the first time I’d ever been on the front page of the newspaper, which was…interesting. Then I went to this old coffee shop to have a cup of coffee and some pancakes, and the cooks and chefs come out and clap, and it was a great feeling. Then I got in my car and put my Beatles song on that I play when I’m feeling proud, which is ‘Baby You’re a Rich Man’. So I’m listening to that in my Lamborghini, and I’m driving to the beach, feeling pretty good, when a cop pulls me over. And I think I’m going to get a ticket, which is what usually happens in that car, but they say, ‘We just want to say congratulations.’ And it was cool. And I’m walking on the beach, and surfers from, like, hundreds of yards in are going, ‘Hey, Nic, congratulations!’ And it was just a wild day. For one second, Los Angeles felt like a small town.”
One of the first signs of being depressed is that you lose interest in things. That’s why I think it is important to stay passionate.
“I’ve always had a fascination with the bizarre, the surreal, the Grand Guignol, the grotesque. I’ve always liked imperfections. I never really wanted to sell perfection.”
“I’ve always wanted to do work that’s stimulating and exciting on an escapist level, but also to do movies that are a bitmore thoughtful and thought-provoking and poetic.”
“I used to have this thing I called my Sunshine Trilogy, and now I’m in my Midnight Trilogy.”
We’ve become so glorified in the movie-star system that it’s become this artificial royalty. The truth is that we’re circus clowns.
At the time I decided to do action films, people were telling me, ‘You’re not that type. It’s not going to work.’ And so obviously that made me think, ‘Well, that’s not comfortable.’
“When I was six, I wanted to get ‘into’ the TV set, but I was very shy, and very much an outsider in high school. My real inspiration came when I saw James Dean in East of Eden at 15. I never got over it. I identified with his need to impress his father.”
“I never want to get comfortable with what I’m doing. I don’t think I can grow if I’m comfortable. So I want to push myself a little bit further.” — Cage on looking for challanges.
“As a kid, I was always trying to find ways to ride my bicycle over trash cans and do the Evil Knievel thing. I think that I’ve always been drawn to that kind of high action stimulation.” — said Nicholas Cage to Star, Nov. 1, 1999.
“In high school, I almost got expelled because I was always making the kids laugh.” Cage told CNN, Aug. 31, 1992.
“I’ve been allowed to surround myself with creative people even when I’m not acting. I get stimulated by exciting people who are passionate about their crafts, passionate about filmmaking, have ideas and are free thinkers,”
“There’s not enough eccentricity in my life now… it’s important to keep that eccentric spirit alive, because when that goes, I think the work will go.”
Filmography:
Nicolas Cage Filmography as an Actor:
2010The Dance
2009 Electric God
2009 Amarillo Slim
2009 The Ghost
2009 Scared Straight
2009 Astro Boy
2009 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
2009 G-Force
2009 Knowing
2008 Bangkok Dangerous
2007 National Treasure: Book of Secrets
2007 Ghost Rider
2007 Next
2007 Bangkok Dangerous
2006 The Wicker Man
2006 The Ant Bully
2006 World Trade Center
2005 Lord of War
2005 The Weather Man
2004 National Treasure
2003 Matchstick Men
2002 Adaptation
2002 Sonny
2002 Adaptation
2002 Windtalkers
2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie
2001 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin
2001 Celebrities: Caught On Camera
2000 The Family Man
2000 Gone In 60 Seconds
1999 8MM
1999 Bringing Out the Dead
1998 Snake Eyes
1998 Welcome to Hollywood
1998 City of Angels
1997 Face/Off
1997 Con Air
1996 The Rock
1995 Kiss of Death
1995 Leaving Las Vegas
1994 It Could Happen to You
1994 Guarding Tess
1994 Trapped in Paradise
1993 Amos & Andrew
1993 Deadfall
1993 Red Rock West
1992 Honeymoon in Vegas
1992 Saturday Night Live: Nicolas Cage
1992 American Heroes and Legends: Davy Crockett
1992 American Heroes and Legends: Davy Crockett
1991 Zandalee
1990 Fire Birds
1990 Wild at Heart
1990 Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted
1989 Vampire’s Kiss
1989 Time to Kill
1988 Never on Tuesday
1987 Moonstruck
1987 Raising Arizona
1986 Boy in Blue
1986 Peggy Sue Got Married
1984 Birdy
1984 Racing with the Moon
1984 The Cotton Club
1983 Valley Girl
1983 Rumble Fish
1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Nicolas Cage Filmography as a Director:
2002 Sonny
Nicolas Cage Filmography as an Executive Producer:
2010 The Dance
2009 Jack and Jill
2007 The Dresden Files [TV Series]
2000 Bel Air
Nicolas Cage Filmography as a Producer:
2010 The Dance
2009 Electric God
2009 Amarillo Slim
2009 A Thousand Words
2009 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
2009 One Train Later
2008 Bangkok Dangerous
2007 Next
2006 The Wicker Man
2005 Lord of War
2003 The Life of David Gale
2002 Sonny
2000 Shadow of the Vampire
Nicolas Cage Awards:
Academy
2002 Best Actor Adaptation
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
Chicago Film Critics Association
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
Golden Globe
2002 Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Adaptation
1995 Best Actor - Drama Leaving Las Vegas
1992 Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Honeymoon in Vegas
Independent Spirit Award
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
1989 Best Actor Vampire’s Kiss
L.A. Film Critics Association
1994 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
National Board of Review
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
National Society of Film Critics
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
New York Film Critics Circle
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
Screen Actors Guild
2002 Best Actor Adaptation
1995 Best Actor Leaving Las Vegas
Toronto Film Critics Association
2002 Best Actor Adaptation
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