Nicolas Cage: Running strong

Amazingly, the man has 77 film credits in IMDb. Scrutinize it well, and you’ll see that he takes in at times four projects a year!

Recently, it was announced that Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage would star in the contemporary political drama The Runner. This film marks producer Austin Stark’s writing and directing debut.

The story flows from the aftermath of the tragic 2010 BP oil spill. Colin Price (played by Nicolas Cage), an idealistic but flawed New Orleans congressman, is forced to confront his dysfunctional life after his career is destroyed in a sex scandal.

“For my first film as a director, I’m honored to be working alongside one of the finest living actors, Nicolas Cage. The Runner, a contemporary political drama, is new and exciting territory for Mr. Cage. I have no doubt he’s going to deliver a powerful and poignant performance, as relevant as the film itself,” Stark said in a published statement.

While he was forced to put in a few pounds for this role, most of Cage’s memorable portrayals were in action and adventure.  Hardly did he take on a role that made him look fat.  Cage was so determined to look as gaunt as possible for his portrayal of a troubled comic book character  Ghost Rider, he developed a running addiction. 

He decided that Johnny Blaze had to be very skinny, so he spent months losing weight. He explained, “I had to do quite a bit of working out and portioning my diet ... Everybody thought there was something wrong with me, that I was ill or something because I was getting so thin. I had really lost a lot of weight because I wanted the character to be really gaunt. The working out I was more concerned about because I was running about 12 miles a day and that could get a little addictive. I’m trying not to do that now in my own life.”

“So, with Ghost Rider, being that he was the comic I was reading as a boy — along with The Hulk — and I was really more of a Marvel aficionado, it was the right choice. Plus he’s a character that I was able to really introduce to people, and put my own twist on it to bring it to life. Mark (Steven Johnson, writer-director) was very open to allowing me to try to make it funny and somehow real. How would this character try to keep the demons at bay? I could have fun with that. I played it a million times already as a boy. I had all the rehearsal I needed,” Cage enthused when asked why he thought the Ghost Rider was a perfect role for him.

On training for the movie, Cage said, “Every break I was in the gym maybe four or five hours a day on shooting days and then all day on the weekends. The day I shot the mirror scene I’d had nothing to eat and I started to have candy corn sugar, which makes you more vascular, so I was going a little crazy. I was trying to be nice on the set, but I was starving and I didn’t know what I was saying anymore! If there is another Ghost Rider I’m dreading that kind of workout again.”

It’s not difficult to cast him as an action hero. He is six feet tall and tough looking. He also takes care of his body. “I’m absolutely addicted to working out and I get angry if anyone tries to talk to me while I’m doing it,” he said. He also trained in Brazilian Jujitsu under Royce Gracie.

In the blockbuster Con Air, he played a hardened special forces veteran and to fine-tune his wiry body he took up aerobics, kick boxing, and weightlifting, and ran six miles a day to get fit.

Cage is particular about what he eats and, whenever possible, he just eats a lot of tuna, chicken, and fat-free food. He avoids all unnecessary fats like oil and butter, and calorie-loaded snacks. He enjoys booze in moderation and his special treat for himself most likely is chocolate.

Nicolas Cage was born in Long Beach, California, to August Coppola, comparative literature professor at Cal State Long Beach and dean of creative arts at San Francisco State University, and dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang. His father is the brother of famous director Francis Ford Coppola. He is of Italian (father) and German, English, and Polish (mother) descent. Cage changed his name early in his career to make his own reputation, succeeding brilliantly with a host of classic, quirky roles by the late 1980s.

So, why does he work so much? “There is a method of thought that says it’s better to stay mysterious, make yourself an event so when you come out, people have a hunger to see you again. I can think of some superstars who adopt that principle, where they are very selective. But we are all going to get older, and there is something to be said about doing some of your best work when you are younger, when you still have that virility, something visceral and raw. I’ve heard there have been some actors who’ve regretted not doing more work when they were under 50,” Cage answered.

“I am in the process of reinventing myself. I am returning to my roots, which is independently spirited, dramatic characters. I had taken a year off to re-evaluate everything I had done, different kinds of performances I had done, the more operatic and more baroque stuff like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011), Drive Angry (2011) or Season of the Witch (2011). I wanted to find something where I could use my life experience, my memories, and my emotions,” he continued.

“I don’t take criticism seriously and I don’t take praise seriously, both would be a mistake. If you buy into the negative that is the Internet today, or the cynical critic, it’s not unlike listening to an abusive father that’s trying to cave you in and you can’t function. If you buy into praise, to people who adore you, you might get lazy and say, ‘Well, I’ll just keep doing that.’ You have to stay uncomfortable. I learned that from David Bowie. I said, ‘How do you do it? How do you keep reinventing yourself?’ He said, ‘I just never got comfortable with anything I was doing.’ I knew those were words of wisdom from a great artist and I took those words seriously,” he asserted.

At 50, he recently became a grandfather for the first time. He is not young enough for the bike riding, action-packed films anymore, but he is reinventing himself to remain relevant by focusing on his acting.

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