Nicolas Cage Says He'll Never Retire, And There Was Much Rejoicing
If you're having a bad day, dearest movie lover, fear not, as we have some good news for you. If you are having a good day, we are happy to make it all the brighter. Nicolas Cage has declared that he is never going to retire from acting. Let us all rejoice.
Cage is currently promoting his new movie "Prisoners of Ghostland," which is said to be wild as hell. During a chat with Entertainment Weekly, he was discussing the difficulties of finding interesting projects as one gets older, and said that he was planning on taking a break after his next two movies.
But fear not! Cage made it clear that he is not considering retirement. Ever. Here's what he had to say:
"No, no, no. No, no. That can't happen. To do what I do in cinema has been like a guardian angel for me, and I need it. I'm healthier when I'm working, I need a positive place to express my life experience, and filmmaking has given me that. So I'm never going to retire. Where are we now, 117 movies?
"[Laughs] What's funny is, my argument with people who go, 'You work too much,' was 'I like working, and it's healthy, I'm happy when I'm working, and by the way, guys like Cagney and Bogart, they were doing hundreds of movies.' And then I went, 'I'd better check that,' and I went, 'Oops.' [Laughs] Jerry Lewis was one of my friends, and he and I would go and have dinner together, and he would say, 'How many movies you got?' I go, 'I got about 100, how many you got?' 'I got 40. So you got twice as much as me?' 'Well, I didn't know that, Jerry.'"
Phew.
The Cage Renaissance
It is no secret that Cage, an Oscar-winner for his work in "Leaving Las Vegas," spent a large chunk of the 2000s churning out very bad movies. One after another. The man was a factory. Much of this can be chalked up to poor financial decisions, though it's tough to forget something like "Knowing." In any event, it was easy to write his career off for a good while. But then something happened.
Over the past few years, Cage has started doing some remarkably interesting work. From the bonkers "Mandy" to the trippy "Color Out of Space," it appears the man has started to carve out an interesting path once again. And let us not forget this year's "Pig," which has earned Cage some of the best reviews of his career, as well as some serious Oscar buzz. It would be a crime to stop this train now. Sure, he still churns out the head-scratchers like "Grand Isle," but it's worth it for the "Willy's Wonderland" of it all.
And, I mean, good God. They are talking about making a "Face/Off" sequel. Cage simply can't retire if that is actually going to happen. Yes, his character is dead, but let a man dream for a moment.
Here's to many more years of craziness, Mr. Cage.