A quirky movie star who's alternately admired and criticized for his over-the-top performances, Cage has enjoyed a dramatic, hit-or-miss career. Early on he was the poster child for rebellious boys (
Rumble Fish,
Racing with the Moon), but a trio of '80s romantic comedies opposite comparatively mature leading ladies proved that he could play disparate adult characters. In the neoscrewball comedy
Raising Arizona (with Holly Hunter), he was a goofy but kindhearted ex-con. The operatic
Moonstruck (starring Cher) showcased his fiery, Italian side (as well as his sculpted chest and his back tattoo). And his uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola, gave him free rein to inhabit both a nasal-voiced, '60s teen and a middle-aged philanderer in the time-tripping
Peggy Sue Got Married opposite Kathleen Turner. Although Cage was undeniably a star, he was an acquired taste, famous for his intense characterizations and Method-acting madness (while filming the 1989 cult film
Vampire's Kiss, he ingested a live cockroach). In the '90s, Cage moved between genres, taking on comedies (
Honeymoon in Vegas), art-house films (
Wild at Heart) and action flicks (
Fire Birds), (always sporting a different hairpiece), before landing the part that finally earned him unanimous praise and myriad awards, including an Oscar: a suicidal, alcoholic writer in 1995's harrowing
Leaving Las Vegas. Instead of continuing on the serious-actor track, however, Cage reinvented himself once again, this time as an action hero in a string of big-budget blockbusters (
The Rock,
Face/Off). With his pick of projects, he seemed sometimes to choose randomly, starring in a hodgepodge of pictures. For every box-office hit (
National Treasure) or critical triumph (
Adaptation., which earned him an Oscar nod) he made three flops (
Windtalkers,
Captain Corelli's Mandolin,
Sonny, which he also directed). Yet he remained in the spotlight thanks to his prolific output and tempestuous love life, which included failed marriages to Patricia Arquette and Lisa Marie Presley.
Nicolas Cage Fast Facts:
- Said that his mother — though clinically insane while he was growing up — was "the artistic one in the family and gave me a lot of what I am today."
- Nephew of Oscar-winning director-screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola.
- A big comic book fan, he was inspired to change his last name to Cage from Marvel's Luke Cage. His son, Kal-el, was named after Superman and Cage was also instrumental in turning the Marvel character Ghost Rider into a movie.
- Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998.
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Like the Hustons (Walter, John and Anjelica), there are three generations of Oscar winners in the family: Nicolas; his uncle Francis Ford Coppola; his grandfather Carmine Coppola; and cousin Sofia Coppola.
- Married sushi waitress Alice Kim, who was some 20 years his junior, in 2004 two months after his divorce from Lisa Marie Presley became final.
- Nicolas Cage Relationships:
- Patricia Arquette - Ex-wife
- Sarah Jessica Parker - Ex-significant Other
- Sofia Coppola - Cousin
- Francis Ford Coppola - Uncle
- Jason Schwartzman - Cousin
- Kristen Zang - Ex-fiancée
- Lisa Marie Presley - Ex-wife
- Christopher Coppola - Brother
- Jenny Wright - Ex-significant Other
- Carmine Coppola - Grandfather
- Christina Fulton - Ex-significant Other
- Roman Coppola - Cousin
- Talia Shire - Aunt
- Italia Coppola - Grandmother
- Gian-Carlo Coppola - Cousin
- Eleanor Coppola - Aunt
- Robert Schwartzman - Cousin
- Marc Coppola - Brother
- Alice Kim Cage - Wife
- August Floyd Coppola - Father
- Joy Vogelsang - Mother
- Kal-el Coppola Cage - Son
- Weston Coppola Cage - Son
- Nicolas Cage Awards:
- 1996 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama - Winner
- 1988 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 1993 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2003 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 1995 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Winner
- 2002 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role - Nominee
- College:
- Attended American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, CA
