Nicolas Cage says he was likely never paid for his role in the Mike Figgis-directed drama Leaving Las Vegas

People say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but Nicolas Cage could be spilling beans about his time in Sin City. In 2022, Cage said he likely never got paid for his role as the suicidal alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson in the Mike Figgis-directed drama Leaving Las Vegas. The film was an Academy Awards powerhouse in 1996, earning top prizes for Best Actor (Nicolas Cage), Best Actress (Elizabeth Shue), Best Director (Mike Figgis), and Best Adapted Screenplay. The thought of Cage not getting paid for such a monumental role seems ridiculous, but it could be true.

While walking the red carpet at the SXSW Film & TV Festival on Monday, promoting his new film Arcadian, Cage spoke with Business Insider about his earnings confusion. While many of us would be livid about not getting paid for such a significant role, Cage says he remains unbothered by the circumstances.

“But I haven’t been thinking about it,” Cage said. “I got to play a part that I absolutely had to play. There was no doubt in my mind that it would be an experience and a great movie. I wasn’t going to stop — whether they paid me or not, I was making the movie.”

In Leaving Las Vegas, Ben Sanderson (Nicolas Cage), a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera (Elizabeth Shue).

Following his role in Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage’s Hollywood cache increased, allowing him to ask for more money for future acting roles. Previously, Leaving Las Vegas director Mike Figgis said he never got his $100,000 pay for directing the Oscar-winning drama. He said as much in 2022 on the It Happened In Hollywood podcast, presented by The Hollywood Reporter.

“They said the film never went into profit,” Figgis said about Lumiere Pictures, which financed Leaving Las Vegas, a $4 million-dollar production.

Could you imagine not getting paid for directing or acting in an Oscar-winning film? I’d like to know if there’s been any repercussions for Lumiere. I’d be banging their door down, demanding my money if it were me. Filmmakers should be paid for their work, full stop. The thought of Lumiere Pictures getting away with stiffing their cast and crew is madness if that’s indeed what happened.