Nicolas Cage opens up about his 'nouveau shamanism' acting method: 'I thought it sounded cool'

• Nicolas Cage spoke about his "nouveau shamanism" acting method in an interview with Insider.
• "I thought it sounded cool," Cage said of his technique, which involves "augmenting" imagination.

Nicolas Cage is known for his larger-than-life approach to acting, and the star recently spoke about his famed "nouveau shamanism" acting technique in an interview with Insider.

"Nouveau shamanism was just something I came up with. I thought it sounded cool," Cage told Insider at the red-carpet premiere of his new film "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas on March 12.

The actor, who plays himself in the new action comedy, went on to explain that his approach to acting is grounded in the idea of viewing ancient shamans as actors.

"Shamans were really actors that were just going through stories in the village, and trying to bring answers to whatever the crisis was in the village," Cage told Insider. He cited psychologist Brian Bates' books "The Way of Wyrd" and "The Way of the Actor" as inspiration for his acting method.

"The process itself is about: How do you augment your imagination in a healthy way? So that you can believe you're these characters," the "Mandy" actor continued.

"You don't feel like you're acting, you feel like you're being," Cage said of his unique approach to getting into character.

Elsewhere in the interview, Cage revealed that he rewatched one of his past films to prepare for his role in "Massive Talent."

"I looked at 'Face/Off' again, which I was really wowed by. I think that movie's aged beautifully," Cage told Insider.

The actor added that he "was very wowed" and "fired up" by the film's director, John Woo, and his costar John Travolta in it.

Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."

In the film, which is peppered with numerous references to Cage's past work, Cage befriends an eccentric Spanish millionaire, Javi (Pedro Pascal), who's secretly a huge fan of his. But after Cage is recruited by CIA agents who think Javi is responsible for the kidnapping of a foreign dignitary's daughter, things quickly take a turn for the actor.

While the premise sounds too wacky to work, the film is an absolute treat to watch, and undoubtedly some of Cage's best work to date.

"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" hits theaters April 22. You can watch the trailer below.