Nicolas Cage Refuses to Watch New Movie Where He Plays ‘Neurotic, Anxiety-Ridden’ Nic Cage

Zack Sharf
·3 min read
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Nicolas Cage is having a strong 2021 with the release of the acclaimed drama “Pig” and the upcoming Sion Sono-directed Samurai-Western “Prisoners of the Ghostland.” The actor should be able to keep buzz high into 2022, where April sees the release of Tom Gormican’s gonzo action-comedy “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” The film casts Nicolas Cage as Nicolas Cage in the story of a Mexican billionaire Nic Cage super-fan (Pedro Pescal) who happens to be a notorious drug lord. The fan forces Cage to recreate his iconic characters to extricate his kidnapped wife and daughter. Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish, and Neil Patrick Harris also star.

Speaking to Collider, Cage vowed never to see “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” when it comes time to premiere the movie and release it in theaters in April 2022. The film is co-written by director Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten. Cage co-produced the movie, but even he realizes the version of himself that he’s playing is too far gone to watch.

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“I’m never going to see that movie,” Cage said. “I’m told it’s a good movie. My manager, Mike Nilon, who is also a producer on it, looked at it. He was very happy. I’m told the audience loved the movie. But it’s just too much of a whacked-out trip for me to go to a movie theater and watch me play Tom Gormican’s highly-neurotic, anxiety-ridden version of me.”

Cage continued, “[Tom] kept pushing me in that direction. I said, ‘Tom, that’s not really me. I’m really [made of] quiet, meditative, thoughtful moments. I’m not this neurotic, high-strung, anxiety-ridden guy all the time.’ But he said, ‘Well, neurotic Cage is the best Cage.’ I said, ‘Okay, okay. Let’s go, man. I’ll do what you want.’ I won’t see it. But I do hope you enjoy it.”

Cage told Empire magazine last year that the movie “is definitely just me ‘taking the piss,’ as they say, out of myself.” The plot requires Cage to have two roles in the film, one as a downtrodden actor struggling to return to his glory days and another as his younger doppelgänger from when he was a big star who haunts his older self. That the film’s older Nic Cage is forced to recreate his younger characters only makes things more meta.

“It’s a stylised version of me, and the fact I even have to refer to myself in the third person makes me extremely uncomfortable,” Cage told Empire at the time. “I don’t like to look back. But this movie kind of pushes it all back in my face.”

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is set to open April 22, 2022 from Lionsgate.

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