NICOLAS CAGE, RECEIVING THE 2001 AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE AWARD

I THINK ONE OF THE BEST ways I can explain the hopscotching between comedy and drama, between the killers and the lovers, is that I'm really very, very confused as to who I am. It actually happened about 27 years ago. I sat down in a Chinese restaurant and discovered that they celebrated their year with different animals. They had the year of the monkey, the tiger, the ox, and so on, and I was thrilled to find out that the year I was born, 1964, was the year of the dragon. Now according to Chinese beliefs, dragons are the most powerful and wise animals of all. Needless to say, I was ecstaticBruce Lee and all. So I began decorating my house with dragons. I bought stained-glass windows with dragons, wood carvings with dragons. I even had a giant dragon fireplace carved out of stone, and you throw the wood into the dragon's mouth and it roars fire. But I think the pièce de résistance was when I even put a large dragon tattoo on my back, causing my father's face to turn white. Now this went on until about a year ago, when somebody brought to my attention that the Chinese calendar year begins in February, not January, and that I was in fact born in the year of the bunny. So I'm a bunny. I'm a bunny acting like a dragon. I hope that clears up any confusion I may have caused. But if you know of any Easter bunny movies, give me a call, because I promise you it will be the most soulful, organic, stripped-down, raw performance you'll ever see.