Nicolas Cage has revealed that he re-watched Face/Off to help him play himself in the upcoming Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. There are multiple layers of confusion in the comedy movie, as Cage plays a version of himself and he also portrays Nicky Cage, a figment of Cage’s imagination who resembles a younger version of himself. And let’s not forget that in Face/Off, Cage was playing John Travolta for much of the film.
Speaking to Insider at the SXSW premiere of the movie, which co-stars Pedro Pascal as a multi-millionaire Nicolas Cage fan who invites his hero to his birthday party, Cage said that he thought Face/Off had “aged beautifully.” Cage said that he was “wowed” by the action movie and “fired up” by director John Woo. In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pascal’s character Javi has a life-size statue of Cage in Face/Off brandishing two golden guns.
He said he was also influenced by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, saying that German Expressionism had influenced his acting technique, which he calls “nouveau shamanism.”
In the comedy movie, which will be out on April 22, Cage plays a version of himself whose career is faltering and is in debt. His agent, played by Neil Patrick Harris, says he’s been offered one million dollars to attend a rich gentleman’s birthday party. Cage reluctantly accepts, but ends up forming something of a bromance with his host.
While at the idyllic island paradise getaway, Cage is recruited by two CIA agents, played by Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, to spy on his new bestie Javier (Pascal). Cage finds that he has something of a knack for this spy stuff and he is aided by lifting his own golden guns from his Face/Off statue.
While we wait until The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is released, check out our guides to the best action movies and the best spy movies.