Nicolas Cage has said he turned down roles in The Matrix and The Lord Of The Rings to spend time with his family.

• READ MORE: “Oh no! Not the bees!”: Nicolas Cage’s maddest, most Nicolas Cage-y roles

The actor, who plays a fictionalised version of himself in new film The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, explained in an interview with People how the version of Nic Cage on-screen, who is always seeking the next role, is different to reality.

“First and foremost… there’s no version of Nic Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children,” Cage said. “There’s no version of Nic Cage that didn’t put family first over career.

“I turned down Lord Of The Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”

He added: “So there is a huge disparity between that Nick Cage in Massive Talent and the Nic Cage sitting in front of you right now.”

Weston Cage Coppola, now 31, is an actor and producer. Cage is also a father to son Kal-El, 16, while he and wife Riko Shibata are expecting a baby later this year.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent also stars Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris and Sharon Horgan. The film will be released on April 22 in cinemas.

Following the film, Cage has recently expressed interest in taking on more comedic roles – mentioning that he’s particularly “curious” about musicals.

“Right now, I’m excited that the comedy is back on the menu,” Cage said to Rolling Stone. “It hasn’t been there for, gosh, 15 years. That’s nice that I may have the opportunity to do more comedy. But I’ve never done a musical. That would be something I would be curious about.”

Last year, Cage was cast as Dracula in Renfield, a dark fantasy horror-comedy centred on the vampire’s noted henchman. Nicholas Hoult will play the title character, while Ben Schwartz and Awkwafina also star.

The film is written by Ryan Ridley and directed by Chris McKay (The Lego Batman Movie, The Tomorrow War). It’s scheduled to be released on April 14, 2023.