Nicolas Cage admitted to being “crazy” on Terry Wogan’s talk show.
HIGHLIGHTS
Nicolas Cage shocked Terry Wogan with karate kicks and crazy antics on the “Wogan” show, revealing his energetic personality.
Cage admitted to a period of drinking and drug-taking in his 20s that didn’t make him happy, explaining his need for crazy behavior.
Cage toned down his acting method to stay sane, quitting his intense approach after Richard Gere warned him it would limit his career.
Before Tom Cruise‘s 2005 “set-up” couch jump interview with Oprah Winfrey, Nicolas Cage was already doing much crazier things on talk shows. 19 years before the latter took a 14-year break from talk shows, he scared BBC broadcaster Terry Wogan “to death” with his hyper antics that involved some karate kicks.
It was 1990 and Cage was promoting his film Wild at Heart on Wogan. The host handled it pretty well. He even got the Oscar winner to discuss his “crazy” behavior, which almost affected his ability to make films. Here’s how Cage’s bizarre interview turned out to be the most revealing about his real self.
Nicolas Cage name-dropped his favorite films during an interview, and fans thought the move was genius.
Nicolas Cage Scared Terry Wogan With A Karate Kick Entrance On The ‘Wogan’ Show
During his entrance on Wogan, a 26-year-old Cage did some cartwheels and then some karate kicks, before and after throwing some cash at the audience. “Darn it, all that physical activity just took my mic off,” the actor said as he sat down. The host tried to keep up with his energy by asking, “Do you get carried away?”
“Well, I don’t know if I get carried away. I just have a good time,” Cage said of his hyper antics on Wogan .
While Wogan was complimenting Cage’s performance in Wild at Heart, the latter removed his leather jacket because it was “really hot.” Then he took off his Wild at Heart T-shirt and gave it to Wogan. He put his jacket back on while the host looked “scared to death,” according to a fan.
Someone wrote in the comments: “As a Brit, I remember seeing this interview the night it went out. Nicholas Cage was mostly playing the part of Sailor Ripley from the film Wild at Heart. He must have scared Terry Wogan to death” They also noted that “in the full interview, he actually uses the line from Wild at Heart about his leather jacket being a symbol of his individuality and personal freedom.”
Nicolas Cage admitted to going “through a period of drinking and drug-taking” that “didn’t make him happy” during his 20s.
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Nicolas Cage Told Terry Wogan He Had A “Need To Do Crazy Things”
During the interview, Wogan also asked Cage about the time he said if he hadn’t been an actor, he’d be dead by now. The Face/Off alum laughed at himself and admitted to having the “need” for some “crazy.” Well, you know, maybe I was a little bit far-fetched,” he said.
“I guess I had this need, you know, to do kind of crazy things,” Cage said of his public persona.
He added that he also wanted to rob banks before pursuing acting. “Maybe if I hadn’t become an actor, I used to like the idea of robbing banks,” Cage explained. “So at least now I don’t really have to rob a bank. I can just do it in a movie. Safer that way.” Wogan then joked that he’d help his guest rob a bank if he needed to “get it out of his chest.”
Cage has starred in several movies involving robbery. Here are some of them:
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
Cage’s character, Bill Firpo robs a bank with his brothers, Dave (John Lovitz) and Alvin (Dana Carvey)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
Cage plays a cop who stops a liquor store robbery in one scene
Stolen (2012)
Cage plays a notorious bank thief who steals $10 million with his partners who would later kidnap his daughter
211 (2018)
A flop film where Cage plays a cop who stops mercenaries from robbing a bank in Massachusetts
Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021)
Cage plays a bank robber who’s forced to wear a bomb-filled leather suit
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Nicolas Cage Told Terry Wogan He Got “Quieter” In Acting To Stay Sane
Cage also opened up to Wogan about getting a little too “crazy” when he’s inhabiting a role. “Your versatility is quite extraordinary. [You’re] serious about how you act alone,” the host said. “I mean, you were terrific in Moonstruck, which is the last thing I saw. Then in Wild at Heart. How do you get into two different roles like that?” The actor said he used to get into parts “physically” but that he stopped for his sanity.
“When you start living the part of a crazy psychopathic killer, it can get you into trouble when you go home,” Cage joked about toning down his acting process.
Richard Gere – whom he worked with in 1984’s The Cotton Club – also “told him off.” The City of Angels star recalled: “He said if you do that, you know you’ll have about three more movies left in you. So I quit… I’m much quieter [now].” In 2022, Cage talked about his “nouveau shamanism” acting method, which involved “augmenting” imagination.
Nicolas Cage once pulled his own teeth out without anesthetic for the Vietnam War drama, Birdy (1984).
“Nouveau shamanism was just something I came up with. I thought it sounded cool,” the Leaving Las Vegas actor said of his technique. “The process itself is about: How do you augment your imagination in a healthy way? So that you can believe you’re these characters. You don’t feel like you’re acting, you feel like you’re being.”