There is no actor on planet Earth quite like Nicolas Cage. During an extraordinary morning in his Las Vegas compound, he expounds on his mystical craft.
Read an extract from our exclusive February 2023 issue cover feature below, or read the full article here.
"Shrunken heads, skulls and a narwhal tusk," croons Nicolas Cage, his hands dancing across the keys of an upright piano.
Sharply dressed in a black suit and tie, he is improvising a lilting hymn to the hoard of ancient curios amassed around him in the den of his Las Vegas home. “Welcome to Nick’s house,” he sings. “Only at Nick’s house…”
Outside, palm trees sway around a grotto pool guarded by a statue of the fire-breathing turtle monster Gamera and an inquisitive Chow Chow named Bruce Lee. The sun is out, but you’d never know that in here. Heavy drapes cover the windows, preserving an atmosphere of gothic gloom. When Cage moved in he had the sandy walls repainted blood red and aubergine purple. “I didn’t want to feel like I was in Las Vegas,” he explains. “I like things a little more depressing.”
This cool, dark space suits both Cage and the menagerie which shares his home. Kitchen counters are lined with tanks of fish, turtles and terrapins. There’s a friendly pig outside and a not-so-friendly possum inside. In the living room, beneath an original 1954 poster for Creature From The Black Lagoon, there’s a huge geodesic dome in which Huginn the crow flutters and caws. And reclining across a Persian rug is Cage’s closest companion, a majestic Maine Coon cat called Merlin.
Back in the den, Cage pours coffee and takes a seat. This is his inner sanctum, where he watches films and reads scripts, and where today he’s reflecting on a 40-year acting career that defies categorisation. He’s a rare maverick in an increasingly risk-averse industry, famed for delivering surreal performances in over 110 films, from screwball comedies and tragic dramas to blockbuster action flicks. Of all the strange beasts in this enclosure, Nicolas Cage might just be the wildest of them all.
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