It Turns Out Nic Cage Almost Went On A Fucking Grail Quest
Nic Cage did an interview with the NYT that went just about how you would expect. Questions about his acting style and upbringing turned into his philosophy and dinosaur skull spending-sprees. My personal favorite quote, though, was this:
“…I went years where all I was doing was meditating three times a day and reading books on philosophy, not drinking whatsoever. That was the time when I almost went on — you might call it a grail quest. I started following mythology, and I was finding properties that aligned with that. It was almost like ‘National Treasure.’ Of course, that didn’t sustain. On top of which, I said, “I’m going to get off philosophy,” because I became like a kite with a string but no anchor. No one could understand what I was talking about. And I thought people would rather see me as an orangutan than as an eagle meditating on the mountaintop anyway”
When pressed on that, he said “One thing would lead to another. It’s like when you build a library. You read a book, and in it there’s a reference to another book, and then you buy that book, and then you attach the references. For me it was all about where was the grail? Was it here? Was it there? Is it at Glastonbury? According to myth, the English town of Glastonbury was the site of King Arthur’s grave as well as the location to which Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail from Jerusalem.
He later said that, while the quest isn’t completed, it is still in progress. First of all, how is every museum/university on earth not setting up a grant to fund his research? Second, Nic, I know you’re reading this, PLEASE let me join your grail quest. I don’t have any qualifications, but I have seen ‘The DaVinci Code’ at least one time. I am a great traveling buddy and can be the ultimate yes-man for the scripts you get offered while we work. He actually got asked about why he does so many roles, and his answer was a lot more thoughtful than I expected.
“…by design, with video on demand, I felt that if I made more movies, not only was it good for me financially, people would be able to tune in at home and go, ‘What’s the next movie that Nick made?’ They’d have a large selection. So I’m not worried about too much supply and not enough demand. I’m just trying to get back to a feeling that I enjoyed as a child on my little Zenith television in the ’70s.”
This might be total bullshit, as he later went on to say how money did drive a lot of the roles he took after losing a ton of money in the recession. However, he’s Nic Cage! He’s a loveable nut, so if he says he takes all these roles because he sees it as a homage to old Hollywood, I will choose to believe it. My other favorite parts from this interview include a point where, without provocation, he alluded that he lost his virginity in New Orleans, and when he said he hasn’t gone to therapy in 20 years because “…inevitably, there was a point where I’d look at the person and I’d start to go: ‘Why am I talking to you? I’m more interesting than you.’ Then I’d get up and walk out.”
This man is a national treasure. The last movie of his that I watched, ‘Mandy‘ actually ruled out loud. He mentions a lot in the article about how he really thinks that he is at the top of his game, and I’m inclined to agree. More small-scale directors are finding parts that take advantage of his weirdness which is GREAT for the general movie-watching public. He talks about other stuff like his stolen Mongolian dinosaur skull in the full article as well.
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