Nicolas Cage was one of the presenters at the Academy Awards for the Best Actor category, and while his colleagues weaved lyrical introductions for the other nominees, the Ghost Rider star chose to make a joke about Paul Giamatti.
The latter starred in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers as Paul Hunham, a classics professor at the all-male boarding school Barton Academy. The comedy-drama film was nominated in five Oscars categories, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
Nicolas Cage Cracks A Joke About Paul Giamatti’s Lazy Eye At The Oscars
During the Oscars Best Actor introduction, actor Nicolas Cage revealed how Paul Giamatti got his lazy eye in The Holdovers. He took a jab at his method acting and admitted he would also do the same (via Deadline Hollywood):
“This past year, Paul Giamatti was so committed that for the character to have a lazy eye, he wore a soft contact lens during the entire shoot, which made him blind in that eye while filming. Would have I done that? Hell yes. But the point is, you did do it, Paul! And you were brilliant, again. Bravo!”
In a conversation with ComingSoon, the actor was asked how exactly he achieved the defect in his eye. As expected, Giamatti refused to divulge the information.
“It’s a mystery that I can’t reveal. It’s all just the magic of film and acting. I can’t tell you exactly how we did that. I’ve been sworn a secrecy, sir.”
The American Splendor star did not take home the award as Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy won the Oscar for Best Actor. Regardless, Giamatti was all smiles knowing he did a fantastic job in The Holdovers.
The Enigmatic Acting Style Of Nicolas Cage
Cage subtly hinted at his own way of method acting when he stood and spoke on stage at this year’s Oscar event. Fans know that the City of Angels actor has a unique yet bizarre way of getting into his movie character. He explained about his acting discipline called ‘Nouveau Shamanic’ via On Demand Entertainment:
“I’ve been told that all actors really hail from the early medicine men and the shamans in the villages pre-Christianity where they would put on masks and act out, and they were probably pretty crazy, but they would go in and find answers to questions.”
Cage added that using this method not only helped him get into the persona of his character but also affected his costars in a way that was effective for the film.
“It was an idea of trying to stimulate or trick my mind into believing I was this character from another dimension, and I would walk on the set and wouldn’t speak to anybody, wouldn’t say a word, so I projected this aura of horror which created fear in my fellow actors, which then inspired me to believe I really was this character.”
Indeed, had Cage been in Paul Giamatti’s shoes in The Holdovers, he would no doubt do the same and blind his eye for the sake of acting.
The Holdovers is available to stream via Peacock.
