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# Cage on a rage: Thriving on trouble on and off screen
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/cage-on-a-rage-thriving-on-trouble-on-and-off-screen/
- Published: 2004-11-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T05:37:41.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

It was established at the outset that neither the interviewer nor the interviewee were all that keen on the usual obsequious celebrity features Hollywood junkets are designed to engender. “I get it,” said the actor Nicolas Cage, glancing out the window of his 21st floor suite at the expanse of west Los Angeles. “I know why I’m here, and I know why you’re here. But at the same time, I can’t help feeling a bit exposed, like I’m giving away the secrets to my tricks and destroying the illusion or magic of whatever it is we’ve created together.”

Cage’s latest creation is the big-budget adventure “National Treasure,” and while he seemed reluctant to expound on the making of that film, he was more than willing to talk about what he referred to as a “life-changing experience” he had recently while on safari in South Africa. It was out in the jungle that the notoriously tempestuous star came face to face with an animal he claims he can truly relate to: The “painted,” or wild, dog.

“There is something really fascinating about seeing a wild dog in its true element. We have dogs all around us in everyday life, but when you see them out there in the wild, it’s pretty far out — like seeing a caveman or something,” said Cage. “Of all the animals, they have the highest kill ratio — something like nine out of 10.”

Getting up close and personal with such efficient killers is certainly quite dangerous, and Cage wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s 40 years old now, but the passage of time has done nothing to quell his inner-turbulence. This is a man who admittedly thrives on trouble, both on and off screen. Hence the impulsive marriage proposals, the well-publicized tiff with former best bud Sean Penn, and a few film roles that have baffled critics and fans alike.

“I asked David Bowie once how he was able to constantly reinvent himself, and he said he never allowed himself to get comfortable with what he was doing,” Cage said. “He always stayed uncomfortable. I took that advice to heart, and a lot of my choices have been made with a sense of discomfort.”

Of all the career choices Cage has made, none was met with more skepticism than when he followed up his Academy Award-winning turn as a suicidal drunk in “Leaving Las Vegas” with the lead in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s explosive 1996 action flick, “The Rock.” It was a pronounced turn away from the atypical roles that had defined his career to that point, and it led to accusations of selling out from the likes of Penn and many others. Cage has since re-teamed with Bruckheimer several times, including “National Treasure,” and he makes no apologies for his forays into action hero-dom.

“In trying to find a place that I could grow from, I was challenged by the idea of being in an adventure film, or an action film,” Cage said. “No one had ever seen me in that light before. It wasn’t for lack of me wanting to do it, I just wasn’t perceived that way because of the types of roles I’d been playing, like ‘Wild At Heart’ and ‘Moonstruck.’

“Jerry Bruckheimer presented the idea to me, and I thought, well, this is different,” Cage added. “This is a challenge. This is something I’m not sure I can do, and therefore it was stimulating to me. I’m always looking for ways to grow and challenge myself, and possibly keep the audience guessing too.”

As for his take on his body of work, which includes over 40 films, Cage said he’s proud of what he’s accomplished, even if some of it is now a bit of a blur.

“I’ve had the experience where I’m watching something I was in, and I don’t remember making that movie,” he said. “I’m almost able to see it as an audience member who had nothing to do with the film.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 19, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/111904.pdf?ref=smdp.com)