Nicolas Cage Admits to Doing “Crummy” Movies to Pay Back $6 Million Debt
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The post Nicolas Cage Admits to Doing “Crummy” Movies to Pay Back $6 Million Debt appeared first on Consequence.
Nicolas Cage was a bonafide movie star in the ’90s thanks to films like Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas, and Adaptation, but by the 2010s, a string of straight-to-video flops — and internet compilations of the actor’s larger-than-life personality — turned Cage into a meme rather than a respected thespian. Now that he’s back in the public’s good graces, however, Cage is admitting to taking some “crummy” roles for the money — though he used his earnings not to buy more dinosaur skulls, but to pay back a ton of debt.
In an interview with 60 Minutes, Cage explained that he accrued a $6 million debt following the economic crash of 2008. “I was over-invested in real estate,” he recalled. “It wasn’t because I spent $80 on an octopus. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time.”
Cage had already moved to Las Vegas — where there are no income taxes — before the crash, which helped when he found himself skint. Refusing to declare bankruptcy, he began making three to four films a year in order to pay back his debts. And though he admitted that not every movie was “blue chip,” Cage said work was his “guardian angel” during the dark period and insisted that he still took every job seriously.
“Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in,” Cage said. “That I care. Every time.” Watch his full 60 Minutes interview below; the quotes above begin around the 9:40 mark.
About two years ago, Cage paid off all his debts. Now, lucky for us, he’s been able to make the kind of quality movies we know him for, from Pig to The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent this month’s Renfield. He even ranked his own favorites from his filmography in a recent interview with Stephen Colbert.
Nicolas Cage Admits to Doing “Crummy” Movies to Pay Back $6 Million Debt
Carys Anderson
Popular Posts
