Nicolas Cage is a veteran Hollywood actor with an eclectic filmography. From Pig to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and more, the man has more variety in his choices than most mainstream actors. But as per the actor, he could have been an even bigger star if he didn’t leave two of the biggest projects ever.
Not many Hollywood actors would have resisted the temptation to become a part of two franchises that are now considered to be a part of the pop culture zeitgeist. But why did Cage leave such opportunities? All for his family and more specifically, for his son.
Nicolas Cage Left Two Mega Franchises For His Son
In a 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nicolas Cage explained that he let go of roles in The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix to spend time with his first child, Weston Cage Coppola. He said:
“I always put my family first, and I have turned down some enormous opportunities as a result of that. When I was in a divorce situation [in 2001 from Patricia Arquette], I wouldn’t leave [my son] Weston to be in New Zealand for three years shooting The Lord of the Rings or The Matrix. My choice was always wanting to stay in L.A. and be with my son.”
Weston Cage Coppola is The National Treasure star’s oldest child with Christina Fulton. Cage and Fulton never married. They dated for a few years before their son’s birth in 1990 and then broke up when he was about a year old. Fulton kept her son away from Cage because she considered Hollywood to be a negative influence on him.
But nowadays, Weston Cage Coppola shares a good relationship with his father and remains close to him. As for what roles he was up for in those franchises, sources report that he was going to play Neo in The Matrix. As for The Lord of the Rings, he was going to portray Aragorn.
Does The Actor Feel There’s More He Could Have Done In His Career?
Nicolas Cage has had a fairly successful career. But one has to wonder if he thinks there’s more he could have achieved in his professional life. After all, it must have stung a little to give up The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings. But the actor doesn’t have many regrets because according to him, the divorce between him and Hollywood happened organically. He said to The Hollywood Reporter:
“There was a mutual departure that happened [between me and] Hollywood somewhere along the way. I started reading a lot of philosophy. I stopped being interested in going to awards shows and selling myself. I made a decision to pursue a life of contemplation.“
He further explained that three tentpole projects of his career flopped simultaneously and that led to him getting sidelined a little. Cage said,
“I had movies like Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Ghost Rider and Drive Angry — three in a row that didn’t work out. There was this marginalization that happened while I was also more interested in philosophy and meditating. So those two things happened at once.”
However, the Renfield actor said that there wasn’t really any shortage of offers, even when he was going through a bad phase in his career. He said,
“I don’t think the phone ever stopped ringing. I went back to my own interests in independent drama — that’s always been my roots — and I just kept working… Three flops aren’t going to completely eradicate you from Hollywood studios.”
Today, Cage is still working on the indie projects he loves. Also, after decades of being in Hollywood, the total box office collection of all of his movies has reached about $6 billion. That’s an impressive feat and that number will surely climb higher in the upcoming years.
The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings are streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: THR
