Is Nicolas Cage the definition of an actor as auteur?
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(Credit: RLJE Films)
Few actors provoke polarising reactions like Nicolas Cage. To some filmgoers, he is one of the most innovative, entertaining, and downright unique stars of all time; to others, he’s a wacky eccentric who rarely convinces as a “normal” human being. In truth, though, given how Cage approaches most roles through the lens of his distinctive “nouveau shamanic” acting style, it’s no wonder he’s often a bit too esoteric for some tastes.
You see, despite naturalism being the default style of acting most stars have adopted in the last 50 years or so, Cage will only adopt that approach if the material calls for it. If, however, he has signed up for a gonzo horror movie or an over-the-top action picture, realism tends to go out the window. This approach has led to heavyweights like David Lynch calling him “the jazz musician of American acting” and Ethan Hawke claiming he is “the only actor since Marlon Brando that’s actually done anything new with the art”.
Cage explained that he came up with the term “nouveau shamanic” because he was inspired by ancient shamans who told stories to explain whatever crises their villages were going through, but he also coined it because it sounded cool. In essence, his acting philosophy is about embracing his imagination so much that he doesn’t feel like he’s acting anymore; instead, he feels like he’s living the part. Sometimes, this leads to him imitating the side-to-side head movements of cobras to successfully play the demonic superhero Ghost Rider; other times, it involves inhabiting the heart and soul of a reclusive former chef searching for his beloved truffle pig.
Naturally, it all led to Cage gaining a reputation for being weird, and this wasn’t exactly helped by his tendency toward eccentricity in his private life. Yes, the man did buy a dinosaur skull for $276,000 that turned out to have been stolen from the Gobi Desert, and yes, he did also buy the supposedly haunted LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans expressly so he could write a horror novel within its walls. But hey, each to his own, right?
Heartwarmingly, though, some people don’t think these things are weird – they’re charmed by them. In 2016, screenwriter Matthew Wilder – who wrote Dog Eat Dog, a Paul Schrader crime thriller that starred Cage and Willem Dafoe – waxed lyrical to The Playlist about the star’s seemingly crazy life. He gushed, “Cage is a guy who has a life I can’t imagine. People come up to him and say, ‘Neecolas, I want you to have these healing oils. They have spiritual properties,’ and he quite remarkably accepts this with not one molecule of condescension or eye-rolling.’”
To Wilder, Cage’s deft handling of people and situations many would consider odd shows that he’s a true maverick thinker—and also truly singular as an actor. He said: “That’s his life, and it’s quite a surreal life. That alone suggests to me someone who is quite, quite advanced. I think as an actor, he is restlessly seeking the place where he can put his individual imprint on everything. He really is the definition of the actor as auteur.”
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