Nicolas Cage not only starred in the film National Treasure—he is one.
Over his 40-plus years as an actor, Cage, a nephew of legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, has earned a reputation for manic, pedal-to-the-metal performances in every conceivable film genre, from horror (Mandy) and comedy (Raising Arizona) to action (Face/Off, The Rock) and drama (Leaving Las Vegas, which got him a Best Actor Oscar). The 58-year-old has also evolved into a cult hero for his off-screen exploits, including blowing a $150 million fortune on castles, rare art, a two-headed snake, and a rare T-Rex skull, among other things, sentencing him to a decade of direct-to-video fare that was by and large beneath his considerable talent (he finally settled his debts last year).
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is the apotheosis of Cage’s cultural capital. In the film, now playing in theaters, he stars as a more down-in-the-dumps version of himself, largely estranged from his teenage daughter and deeply in debt. In order to settle a $600,000 hotel bill, Cage agrees to a $1 million offer to attend the birthday party of a superfan of his (Pedro Pascal) in Spain. When the CIA catches wind of the trip, they convince Cage to spy on his admirer, who may or may not be a powerful drug lord masterminding a political coup.
It’s a joyous—and downright hilarious—celebration of all things Cage, and as good a time as any for a little walk down memory lane.
And so, without further ado, here are the 10 wildest Nicolas Cage stories ever told.
He Was Stalked by a Mime in New York City
While filming the Martin Scorsese thriller Bringing Out the Dead, where he plays a New York City paramedic suffering from insomnia- and- trauma-induced hallucinations, Cage realized he was being stalked by a mime.
“I guess it would fall into the stalker category more or less,” he told Parade magazine in 2009. “I was being stalked by a mime—silent, but maybe deadly. Somehow, this mime would appear on the set of Bringing Out the Dead and start doing strange things… I have no idea how it got past security. Finally, the producers took some action, and I haven’t seen the mime since. But it was definitely unsettling.”
He Woke Up to a Naked Guy Eating a Fudgsicle at the Foot of His Bed
While promoting the 2011 movie Trespass, a thriller where he and Nicole Kidman are victims of a home invasion, Cage shared his own incredibly singular home-invasion story.
“It was two in the morning. I was living in Orange County at the time and was asleep with my wife. My 2-year old at the time was in another room. I opened my eyes and there was a naked man wearing my leather jacket eating a Fudgsicle in front of my bed,” he said at the Toronto International Film Festival while promoting the movie, adding, “I know it sounds funny… but it was horrifying.”
Cage then sold the house and moved to the Bahamas.
He Once Almost Bought a Cave to Have Sex With His Wife in It
During a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance this week, Cage’s first late-night show in over a decade, the mercurial actor addressed a rumor—spread by none other than his National Treasure co-star Diane Kruger—that he’d once purchased a literal bat cave.
“I got my [diving] certificate on the Great Barrier Reef; I explored the element of water. Air, I didn’t really get as far as I wanted to. I wanted to be a hang glider; it didn’t happen,” explained Cage. “Fire, I felt like Ghost Rider, I had explored the element of fire. Then, I wanted to explore Earth.”
Cage was in the Black Hills of North Dakota during filming on National Treasure: Book of Secrets, when he got wind of a cave that was for sale, so he decided to check it out. According to Cage, the cave was filled with “stalactites,” “milky quartz,” and “crystalline walls,” resembling Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
“At the time, I was married,” Cage elaborated, referencing his previous marriage to Alice Kim. “[I thought] I’d like to buy this and just go down in the bottom of the cave and get totally naked with my wife and drink.” Sadly, he did not buy the cave. And there were no bats.
He Has a Pet Crow That Curses Him Off
As any Nic Cage fan knows, our guy has a bit of a thing for strange pets (and once spent $276,000 on a stolen Tyrannosaurus skull that he then had to return). In an interview with the Los Angeles Times earlier this year, Cage said he has a crow, named Hoover, who lives in a geodesic dome inside the actor’s Las Vegas home.
“He has taken to calling me names... it’s comical, at least, it is to me,” Cage said. “When I leave the room, he’ll say, ‘Bye,’ and then go, ‘Asshole.’ Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth.”
He Was Bailed Out of Jail by Dog the Bounty Hunter
In April 2011, a “heavily intoxicated” Cage was arrested in New Orleans following a domestic dispute with his ex-wife, Alice Kim. (No charges were ultimately filed.) And Cage had an interesting character bail him out of jail: Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter.
Chapman, who works as a bail bondsman and bounty hunter, ponied up the $11,000 bond and said he did so because of his Cage fandom.
“I am a truly dedicated fan of Mr. Cage and will not be granting any interviews about my client as I wish to respect his privacy,” Chapman said at the time. “I performed my duties as a bail bondsman and not in connection with our show. This is what I do for a living.”
He Will “F*cking Die Because of Honor”
While filming Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in Bucharest, Romania, back in 2010, Cage was captured on video in a heated argument while exiting a nightclub.
“I’m going to get in that car and walk away. Otherwise, if you want to kill me, go for it, brothers!” he yelled. “I’ll fucking die because of honor. I’ll fucking die right now.”
He begins walking away, only to return and scream, “Respect him as you’d respect me!”
It’s not clear what set Cage off or who exactly he was yelling at.
Nicolas Cage introduces Guns N' Roses at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino during opening night of their second residency on May 21, 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller/GettyHe Shroomed With His Cat
Like his Kimmel turn, Cage was in fine form when he found himself on David Letterman’s couch in 2010. The actor told a story about how his cat, Lewis, had been admiring a bag of magic mushrooms he kept in his fridge—and then one day went to town on them.
“He ate them voraciously,” Cage said. “It was like cat-nip to him. So, I thought what the heck, I’d better do it with him.” It turned out to be a profound experience for the actor. “I remember lying in my bed for hours,” he continued, “and Lewis was on the desk across from the bed for hours, staring at each other… not moving. But he would stare at me, and I had no doubt that he was my brother.”
He Hijacked a Plane’s PA System Mid-Flight With a Cocaine-Smuggling Charlie Sheen
Fun fact: the inspiration for Charlie Sheen referring to his girlfriends as “goddesses” came from none other than Nicolas Cage, who Sheen witnessed calling a flight attendant a “goddess” during a flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco in the ’80s. But that was far from the weirdest thing to happen on the brief trip, as Cage told Letterman in 2012.
“I did not know that Charlie has an eight ball of cocaine wrapped around his ankle, nor did he know that halfway through the flight—and remember, this was over 20 years ago, and it was a much more innocent time—that I was going to grab the PA and announce to the passengers that I was the pilot, and that I was not feeling well, and that I was losing control of the aircraft.”
He continued: “And then when we landed, the pilot came out and understandably he was very angry. And he said, ‘Not cool—not fucking cool,’ and then he pointed his finger at my face furiously, at which point the door to the aircraft whooshed open like a nuclear gateway to a bank vault to reveal six fully armed police officers. And the first thing I did was say, ‘First of all, he had nothing to do with it,’ and I pointed to Charlie, and then I just very gingerly, very politely, very delicately, kindly talked my way out of going to airport jail.”
He Embarked on a Quest to Find the Holy Grail
After filming National Treasure, a 2004 film that saw his treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates steal the Declaration of Independence while on a quest to find the buried treasure of the Knights Templar, Cage revealed to The New York Times that he embarked on a mission of his own: finding the Holy Grail.
“That was the time when I almost went on—you might call it a grail quest,” Cage said. “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.”
Cage explained that he became fixated on finding the Holy Grail, and that his journey led him to the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, where “legend had it that in that place was a grail chalice, or two cruets rather, one of blood and one of sweat.” According to Cage, the water did indeed taste like blood, as the legend says, but admitted, “I guess it’s really because there’s a lot of iron in the water.”
His Grail quest then took him to Rhode Island, where he ended up purchasing a home. “I don’t know if I’m going to say that’s why I bought the Rhode Island property. But I will say that is why I went to Rhode Island, and I happened to find the place beautiful. But yes, this had put me on a search around different areas, mostly in England, but also some places in the States. What I ultimately found is: What is the Grail but Earth itself?”
He Bought a Giant Pyramid Tomb in New Orleans to Be Buried In
Cage will be remembered long after he’s gone—not only for his wonderfully fearless acting performances and eccentric persona, but also his future tomb, which fans of Cage’s can visit (albeit not without a tour guide). The actor purchased two plots in New Orleans’ famed St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 back in 2010, using one of them to construct a 9-foot-tall pyramid mausoleum inscribed with the Latin words “Omnia Ab Uno,” translating to: “Everything from One.”
