Between offbeat independent films like Adapation. and heavy dramas like Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage has collaborated with producer Jerry Bruckheimer numerous times. In high-octane blockbusters Con Air, The Rock, and Gone In 60 Seconds, he developed his own brand of quirky action hero and adopts the guise once again for Jon Turteltaub's family adventure National Treasure.
[Director] Jon Turteltaub says you were the cool one during your days together at high school...
No, he was more popular. He was always the one who had all the girls surrounding him as he talked about drama - we were in the drama department together. I was in the corner somewhere trying to figure out how to talk.
Did you relish playing National Treasure's tuxedo-clad adventurer who's definitely in the mold of Cary Grant?
Absolutely. At the time the script came to me there was another project I was considering. In one the character was working in a gas station wearing overalls, and the other character was wearing a tuxedo. So I thought I'd rather wear the tuxedo and steal The Declaration of Independence. It helped me understand the tone of the movie, because I did think of pictures like To Catch A Thief and Charade, and the stars back then who had this lighter touch with these incredible caper movies. They'd be dressed very elegantly, and they'd be very playful and comedic.
So the tuxedo was your hook?
That's when everything came into focus for me, because I met with Jon in Jerry's office and I said I was a little apprehensive, I wasn't sure if it was too farfetched. But they said the very thing I was worried about was what would make it exciting, because he's audacious, he's bold - and he gets to wear a tuxedo.
What challenge did this role present to you?
I see myself as very much a student of acting, and I always see the chance to grow in some way. I've taken chances that have been uncomfortable for me, and I think at times for audiences, and I think that's a good thing. Even my idea to go into action adventure was uncomfortable in the beginning, but it's something that's kept me on my toes - as long as I stay fresh with it. If I can stay interested - and I have - then I think I can keep audiences interested as well.
Do you enjoy these big budget action movies as much as the smaller, more emotionally intense roles?
I have very eclectic tastes, and I have to say that both types of films are organic in me, they're part of my chemistry. I grew up watching adventure movies. Charles Bronson was a hero, Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, and I would fantasise that I was in those movies when I was a boy. Then as I got older I discovered James Dean and De Niro and I wanted to be that kind of an actor, so I tried to find my way. But the truth is I have very eclectic tastes, I don't have an identity, I think my identity is that I don't have an identity. I don't want to be put in a box - I need to stay uncomfortable, I need to stay challenged to keep interested.
Is it also important to have camaraderie off the set?
Yeah, that kind of energy translates to the film, and hopefully to the audience. We kept it playful. We went to New Orleans with Justin Bartha [who plays sidekick Riley], and we'd go down to Koreatown in Los Angeles and karaoke, and do things like that just to keep it loose. That fit into Jon's vision, to keep it like a confection, with a lighter touch the way the great old stars used to do.
And Diane Kruger?
She's a great actress and a lot of fun to work with. Beautiful obviously, but more than that: she's charismatic. She has a playfulness about her which is nutty, like I am, so we had a lot of off the wall jokes off the set as well as on it. She was doing Peter O'Toole impressions while relaxing between scenes, so I thought that this was finally somebody I could relate to.
You've been attached to Ghost Rider and Wicker Man for a long while. What's the status on those projects?
I had a very successful conversation last night with Neil LaBute, who is the writer and director of The Wicker Man. It's something that I think may happen very quickly. Ghost Rider is a project that I've been linked to for about four years now it seems, but I love the character. I think he's a fascinating character - complex. As far as superhero films go, cinematically he's going to be the most interesting character ever in a movie. He's cinematically the most natural fit. But it's still something we're talking about.
