While waiting for the launch call to film the life of the real Joe Exotic that Netflix made famous with the documentary “Tiger King”, Nicolas Cage promises to infect the world of cinema after the pandemic suspended the releases of films as different as the martial arts blockbuster of science fiction “Jui Jitsu”, in addition to appearing as the truffle hunter of “Pig” or even “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” where he plays himself, as an actor who hires the CIA to catch a drug dealer who kidnapped to the daughter of a presidential candidate.
-One of our first interviews had been when you won the Oscar with ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ or ‘Adios Las Vegas’. What did it mean back then and what does such an award mean today? –
“I think Gary Oldman said recently that we should never ignore the sound of applause. And I appreciate it. I was very grateful when my fellow actors and so many creative people in the cinema had me in mind. I appreciate it but I also remember that Sean Connery told me to forget (about the Oscar). It’s not something I think about every day. It is not something that I really remember so much, because I want to look forward and enjoy new experiences ”.
-The best lesson you learned after working almost 40 years in Hollywood? –
“As time went by, I developed a particular sense on my way through the cinema, something that I call the ‘Super 8 Feeling’. When I was seven, my father had given me and my older brother an eight-millimeter camera, Super 8. And with that same camera, we made our own movies. We even had a small editing room where we cut parts and re-pasted them by hand, almost. And we would see them on a projector, to share them later with my father. The Super 8 Sentiment arises because I make movies simply when I love a story, not because I want to win an award or because I want to win fortunes. When everything really works well is when I also realize that I enjoy the process of building something, simply because I love making films. And it’s a feeling that having it, many directors like Joel and Ethan Coen also agreed with me. “
-Has accepting the position of Talent Ambassador for the Macau International Film Festival is a way to spread your passion for cinema? –
“Well, I feel that the ‘Super 8 Feeling’ is contagious, it is something that translates into the emotion of making movies, when creating a funny movie. It is also translated internationally. It’s something where you could even turn down the volume, watch the performances of a movie and enjoy it, even if you don’t understand the language, because 90% of the communications are not verbal either. And because of that same feeling of Super 8, they invited me to the film festival in Macau, because it translates across cultures, across continents. It is something that communicates. That’s why I think that’s the great reason why I was invited and people respond to my work, because I really want to give something genuine, something that the public can respond to and appreciate. I care about people and movies. And that’s how I came to become an ambassador for film talent today. It’s because of the ‘Super 8 Feeling’ ”.
-Is it true that behind the role of Spider-Man Noir, was your voice, in the original English version of the cartoon ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ that also won an Oscar? –
“Yeah, it’s something that started with a call from Sony studios where they offered to add the voice to Spider-Man Noir. We had met with the directors in downtown Los Angeles to talk about it and I was delighted when they showed me the pictures of what they were going to show. It seemed to me that something beautiful could remain ”.
– It is something that very few people know and there are still fewer people who know that at the same time, you also played another superhero as Superman, also in the voice of another cartoon, with the film version of ‘Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’. Two superheroes in less than a year? –
“Well, I made that movie because Teen Titans is my son Kal-El’s favorite TV show. And he was able to participate too, adding the voice to the young version of Bruce Wayne. He barely had a line, but it was a great day because we were able to go to the studio together, when I had to represent the special participation as Superman in Teen Titans ”.
-It’s interesting, because hardly anyone knows that the Ghost Rider character that you took to the movies twice is also actually a superhero from the Marvel world and having even more powers than Hulk and Thor, was never part of Avengers … –
“It’s true that at the time Ghost Rider came out, Marvel still hadn’t come out with Avengers. It would have been wonderful to see Ghost Rider in the Avengers. In some of the comics, he even became one of them, appearing as a guest character. “
-Which superhero would you have liked to represent to better show your true personality? –
“Well, I already played the one that resonates the most with my personality. I grew up reading the ‘Ghost Rider’ comics, I loved monsters. And I read ‘Hulk’ and ‘Ghost Ryder’ because I couldn’t understand how such monsters could be so scary and good at the same time. But the idea for Ghost Rider was always a tough sell. He is not a character that you can say “Well son, this superhero sold his soul to the devil but he is good too.” Yes, he plays on the team of Satan or Lucifer. It is not a very popular concept for the conservative public in the United States. He was a very unusual superhero to play, but for that very reason, it turned out to be perfect, for me. “
-Would you accept at least one guest appearance in one of the Marvel movies? –
“Not. I think my comic days are over. I’m not interested in representing any other superhero. I am satisfied with the letters I have already received ”.
-And now that you are going to play the same Joe Exotic in the cinema that Netflix made famous with the documentary series ‘Tiger King’ … what do you think about the idea of releasing the cinema at home, rather than at the cinema?
“I am one of the few who made film for the Video On Demand platform at a time when people probably thought it could be considered a field for losers. And it actually ended up being quite a successful marriage for me. And it is because I realized that people today watch movies at home. If you look at what it costs to go to the movies with the whole family, when you take your wife and three children, after popcorn and some sweets, you are going to spend more than a hundred dollars in one night, when you could well stop going to the movies … It is not something that I do not recommend either, I want people to go to the movies, but if you can also save $ 100 a night, you can easily buy a good entertainment system to watch movies in the comfort and privacy of your home, cooking whatever you want, to see the cinema you want. I think it’s also the way most movies look today. And that’s why I didn’t see video On Demand as a failure either, because I knew it was the future that we’re already enjoying today. “
With information from Vanguardia
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