Actors have to be able to play a range of characters. Sometimes they’re heroes, lovers, even bad guys, but unless it’s a documentary, it’s not really often they’re playing themselves. However, Nic Cage is doing just that in his brand new movie, and believe me, he’s a real character.
Now that’s what I call meta. Nicolas Cage is playing himself in the new action-comedy “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.” Try saying that five times fast.
Wait a minute, if Nic’s already himself, is this a true story?
Nicolas Cage: “It’s completely fictional. It is not me. It is a fictionalized, surrealistic, abstract, comical account of a weekend in — and I hate saying my name like this — but Nicolas Cage’s life.”
OK, let’s rewind.
Nic stars as an over-the-top, make-believe version of himself in the movie. In the film, he’s strapped for cash, so he agrees to make an appearance at a billionaire super-fan’s birthday party, but that fan, played by Pedro Pascal, turns out to be a crime boss, and now the CIA wants Cage to be their informant. No wonder Nic says the script kind of scared him at first.
Nicolas Cage: “The first act really terrified me, but by the time we got to act two and three in the script, I was like, ‘Well, he’s really taking us on an adventure that is quite exciting.'”
Pedro says there’s more to this character than meets the eye.
Pedro Pascal: “An average aspiring artist and a psychotic super-fan.”
But, hey, he totally gets the Nic Cage obsession.
Pedro Pascal: “I would never have imagined that I would ever actually meet one of my heroes on the first day of shooting. They’re saying action, and I’m in a scene with Nicolas Cage. I know how sycophantic it sounds, but that’s the way it is.”
Don’t worry, Pedro, Nic feels the same.
Nicolas Cage: “I really enjoyed working with Pedro. You couldn’t work with a nicer man.”
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