The 'Ghost Rider' star heats up on comic book thefts, ignites a 'goth' superhero and blazes about the way he would have played the man of steel...
By Mike Cotton
Posted December 29, 2006 7:45 AM
After years of creating memorable character-driven roles, and earning an Oscar ("Leaving Las Vegas") for his mantle in the process, Nicolas Cage is still a little stunned that two of his biggest loves
—acting and comic books—are finally coming together.
A lifelong comic book fan who actually learned to read with comics, Cage wanted to play Superman under director Tim Burton years ago, but the project fell apart.
Now, the 42-year-old actor finally gets his shot to bring a superhero to life on the big screen in Sony Pictures' "Ghost Rider"
—directed by "Daredevil" helmer Mark Steven Johnson, it's the story of motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze, a man cursed by a demonic figure to be the Spirit of Vengeance—when it hits theaters on Feb. 17.
"It's amazing how today, [comic book culture] has become a major force in film," says Cage. "It didn't used to be that way because in the beginning, comic books didn't translate well to films. The Captain America costume and the Spider-Man costume all looked so silly, but with the advent of the CGI and the technology that we have, we can take the most far-out and amazing special effects and apply them to the stories that moved us as kids, that really stimulated our imagination.
"It's a great time to be making movies, and I always knew that comics would do that," continues Cage. "I always believed that the comic book genre would become a major source of inspiration in the film market because it's almost a perfect form of entertainment. It's imaginative. It's inspiring. It's thought provoking. It's really fun."
Wizard sat down to grill Cage on what eventually toasted his chances of playing the Man of Steel, the heat around the "Ghost Rider"
release and how a single burglary fried his vintage comic book collection.
WIZARD: Playing a superhero seems like it's been a long time coming.
After growing up a comic fan, you were once attached to star as Superman under director Tim Burton, but what's it like now that you're finally playing a character very different from the Man of Steel?
CAGE: Well, I thought that Brandon [Routh] was excellent in the "Superman Returns" movie, and I knew what they were doing. When I was going to play Superman, and I have to be fair about this, I was going to try to re-conceive the character and do something with the role that would've been pretty far out.
How far out?
I was going to have like giant black samurai hair and be really wild and bring out the alien aspect of the character and feeling his alienation of not being able to fit into society. I thought that was helpful to people who feel out of place. In their heart, they can all be Superman by definition. We all have the Superman spirit within us, and often these people who do really appear to have super-abilities in terms of their careers or their focus or their abilities to concentrate. People like Ozzy Osbourne, who on stage is just larger than life and fantastic, and in person he's very shy and humble and quiet. We all have that sort of Clark Kent/Superman dynamic to us, and I really wanted to play up that feeling that when he was Clark, he really couldn't fit in.
But you liked the Bryan Singer version?
It occurred to me that they were being very respectful to the nostalgia of the character and to the lore of what the character stood for back in the '30s and '40s. It was apparent that I would not have been the right choice because I was going to turn it on its ear.
I was going to turn the whole thing upside down, and I think that it's better to do that with a character like Ghost Rider where you can introduce the character to a wide audience and give it gravitas and comedy and humor and all of the things that I like to bring to my roles, whereas Superman is more of a sacred icon to Americans. Ghost Rider is more like the first Goth superhero, which I'm really excited about, and I just believe that it's more appropriate for me. I like skulls and flames, and I do ride motorcycles, so it's a good match.
Speaking of good matches, you and "Ghost Rider" director Mark Steven Johnson both ride bikes; what was the collaboration like between the two of you?
I respond to people's enthusiasm and excitement, and Mark is very sincere about his excitement for "Ghost Rider" and about making the movie. So that automatically counts for 50 percent of it as far as I'm concerned. Mark really cares for the character and believed in it. [Plus], he wrote an excellent script. He's a top-notch writer and he makes it easy to work. He's good with actors in the sense that he allows you to feel free enough that you can play the part as wild as Johnny Blaze because it's definitely a tone that has to hit the bullseye for it to work. It has to have a level of humor to it for it to be able to connect with the audience in terms of the subject matter itself, which is pretty profound and pretty mythic and deep.
Humor in horror can sometimes be tough to pull off; how would you describe the tone of "Ghost Rider"?
The tone that I was trying to adopt for the whole movie, and the movie that I think influenced me the most in terms of what the feeling should be, [was] "American Werewolf in London." That's a great movie, and it really is the best example that I know of a film that plays that fine line between comedy and horror. If you can strike that note, the note of comedy and horror, you've got pure gold. That's what I was hoping to get to with "Ghost Rider."
How much of the old Ghost Rider comics did you study before taking on the part of Johnny Blaze?
I have all of them, and I've had them since I was a boy. I would sit in my bedroom and look at that comic book, the first one of Johnny on the motorcycle turning into Ghost Rider with the flames coming out of his skull and the black leather suit on the bike. He's bursting out, just coming right at you on the front cover, and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I would just sit there, and my brother remembers me meditating on that comic book cover for hours. I think that I would just lose myself in it, and now here I am as Ghost Rider. I guess as a boy, I kind of really gravitated towards the monsters for some reason. I liked the Hulk first, and then I liked Ghost Rider. I liked their complexity. I couldn't understand how something so terrifying could also be good. I think that I was immediately attracted to that paradox. So he was always among my favorites. I still have many of the issues.
You actually got rid of what was a fairly impressive collection of comics after a robbery, right?
Yeah. I had a robbery in my home and they took Action Comics #1 [Superman's first appearance) and Detective Comics #27 [Batman's debut]. That was really bad. After that I said, "You know what, I guess I better sell these because I don't want people stealing anymore." I just said to myself, "These better be in other people's hands. They belong with other people." So I got rid of it all.
Last question, Nic: Johnny Blaze sells his soul to save his dad; what would you sell your soul for?
Well, by definition I sell my soul practically every day. If I were perfect, I would do all my movies for free, and when I do a movie, I bare my soul. I try to put everything that I have in my heart and my soul into the movie with each character, and there are times when I sell it for less than other times, but I think that all actors sell their souls. I think that all artists sell their souls. If you're a real artist, you're going to bare your soul, and if you put a price tag on it, well then you've sold it.
