Nicolas Cage considers himself a thespian rather than an actor

Last Updated on December 31, 2021

Nicolas Cage has been giving us gold for years, and even after all this time, he still manages to impress. Whether we get the maniacally unhinged Cage or the subdued yet still intense Cage, the actor is always a treat to watch. While speaking on Variety’s Awards Circuit Podcast, Nicolas Cage waxed philosophical about the craft but says that he doesn’t love the term “actor,” preferring “thespian” instead.

For me it always implies, ‘Oh, he’s a great actor, therefore he’s a great liar.’ So with the risk of sounding like a pretentious asshole, I like the word ‘thespian’ because thespian means you’re going into your heart, or you’re going into your imagination, or your memories or your dreams, and you’re bringing something back to communicate with the audience.

Out of anyone else’s mouth, that would sound like some pretentious asshole shit, but Nicolas Cage is able to get away with it. If Nicolas Cage prefers thespian, then I do as well. Nicolas Cage’s acting style is unique and he says that’s all by design. He wants to give audiences something different from what they’re used to seeing. “Stanislavski said the worst thing an actor can do is imitate,” Cage said. “Being a bit of a rebel, I wanted to break that rule. So I tried with ‘Wild at Heart,’ a Warhol-like approach to the Sailor Ripley character. In movies, like ‘Prisoners of the Ghost Land’ or even ‘Face/Off’ or ‘Vampire’s Kiss,’ I was experimenting with what I would like to call Western Kabuki or more Baroque or operatic style of film performance. Break free from the naturalism, so to speak, and express a larger way of performance.”

That said, Nicolas Cage has made a return to a more natural style with Pig, which finds Cage starring as a truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness who must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped. The film has earned the actor rave reviews and he’s thankful to director Michael Sarnoski.

I knew after a couple of flops that I had been marginalized in the studio system; and I wasn’t going to get invited by them. I always knew that it would take a young filmmaker who would come back or remember some movies I had made and know that I might be right for his script and rediscover me. And that’s why he’s not just Michael, he’s Archangel Michael. This wouldn’t be happening if he didn’t have the open mind to say, ‘Come with me.’

You can check out a review of Pig from our own Chris Bumbray right here. Nicolas Cage will next be seen in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent which will hit theaters on April 22, 2022.