Nicolas Cage has starred in enough wild movies to fill several alternate universes, but apparently there’s still one Hollywood “what if” living rent-free in his head: turning down Christopher Nolan.
In a candid new interview with the New York Times ahead of the release of Spider-Noir, Cage admitted he thinks declining roles from major directors may have quietly closed some doors over the years – including one with Nolan after passing on 2002 thriller Insomnia.
“Most of them, they get their feelings hurt and don’t call you back,” Cage said. “It’s happened with Christopher Nolan, it’s happened with Woody Allen, it’s happened with Paul Thomas Anderson. They don’t call me back.”
That’s probably the most Nicolas Cage sentence ever spoken: casually name-dropping elite directors like exes who left him on read.
Cage did not reveal exactly why he turned Insomnia down, but admitted one filmmaker did surprise him by giving him another shot: David O. Russell.
The actor now stars in Russell’s upcoming NFL biopic Madden alongside Christian Bale and John Mulaney after previously rejecting one of Russell’s earlier projects.
“And it was a beautiful experience,” Cage said. “I enjoyed working with David.”
The Oscar winner also revealed the unusual career advice that still guides him today, courtesy of late music icon David Bowie.
“I asked him, ‘How did you keep reinventing yourself?’” Cage recalled. “He said, ‘I just never got comfortable with anything I was doing.’”
Honestly, that explains Nicolas Cage’s entire filmography.
