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Nicolas Cage has admitted that he turned down the chance to appear in two major franchise films to play a role he felt suited his ambitions at the time.
In a recent interview with Complex News, the 62-year-old actor reflected on his choice of career, saying that there were two situations where he had to decide between two roles, which led him to reject two franchises.
“One was when Jim Carrey wanted me to do ‘Dumb and Dumber’ and I said I’d rather do ‘Leaving Las Vegas,’ and the other was ‘Spider-Man’ as the Green Goblin and I said I’d rather do Adaptation,” he said. “Both of those choices gave me a lot to do as an actor.”
Jeff Daniels went on to play Harry Dunne in “Dumb and Dumber” and its 2014 sequel, “Dumb and Dumber To.” The role of the Green Goblin in “Spider-Man” eventually went to Willem Dafoe, who played the character again in two sequels of the film in 2004 and 2007, and again in the 2021 film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
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Cage revealed that he turned down roles in “Spider-Man” and “Dumb and Dumber” for roles in two Academy Award-nominated movies. (Eric Charbonneau/Roadside Attractions via Getty Images)
Although he missed out on two franchise appearances, Cage noted that he “chose what I thought was best for me at the time,” adding, “I think I made the right decision.”
“Playing twins in the film was very challenging and exhausting and I don’t know if I can do it again. It was a lot,” he added. “And playing Ben, that script just sang to me. So I would have done it if those opportunities weren’t on the table, but this time.”
He starred in “Leaving Las Vegas” in 1995, playing alcoholic screenwriter Ben, who begins an unusual relationship with a Las Vegas prostitute. The role earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
His work in the 2002 film, “Adaptation,” playing twins Charlie and Donald earned him his second Academy Award and fourth Golden Globe Award nomination.
Cage won an Academy Award for his role in “Leaving Las Vegas.” (Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images)
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While discussing what it was like preparing for his role in the 2024 film, “The Surfer,” Cage told Entertainment Weekly that he was “blown to smithereens” while practicing his surfing skills.
“I was literally beaten and stuck, when they saw my board, they called it a ‘tombstone,’ like the triangle,” he said. “I’m going up the rope like I’m doing an amersault, and I could have died…Now I have a little kid, I don’t know if I still want to do it.”
Cage has three children with three different women, including Weston, 35, with actress Christina Fulton; Kal-El, 20, shares his third wife, Alice Kim; and August Francesca, 3, who he shares with his current wife, Riko Shibata.
The actor has spoken in the past about how his relationship with his children has always been his priority, sharing that he turned down roles in two major competitions to be close to his children.
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Cage said he turned down roles in “Lord of the Rings” and “The Matrix” because he didn’t want to be away from his children. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)
“First of all … there’s no version of Nick Cage that doesn’t really want to spend time with his kids,” he told People in April 2022. “There’s no version of Nick Cage that didn’t put family first at work.”
He continued: “I turned down ‘Lord of the Rings’ and I turned down ‘The Matrix’ because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be at home with my son Weston, that’s true.
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