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<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Massive Talent" filmmakers <keyword id="13680690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-gormican" source="Orion">Tom Gormican</keyword> and <keyword id="13680689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kevin-etten" source="Orion">Kevin Etten</keyword> explain why their favorite scene was cut from the <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword>.</li><li>It was a black-and-white sequence that pays homage to the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."</li></ul><p>Despite all the acclaim for their <keyword id="11927605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nicolas-cage" source="Orion">Nicolas Cage</keyword> movie "<keyword id="12103415" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent" source="Orion">The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent</keyword>," for filmmakers <a href="https://www.insider.com/unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent-nicolas-cage-writer-director-interview-2022-4">Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten,</a> it still stings that they couldn't keep one scene in the movie.</p><p>Though the movie itself has an off-the-wall premise — Cage plays a fictional version of himself who the CIA recruits to take down an arms dealer (Pedro Pascal) he's recently befriended — when it came to a scene inspired by 1920s silent movie "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," the studio that made the movie, Lionsgate, had to draw the line.</p><p>Originally in the script, towards the end of the movie, Cage has a final confrontation with his alter ego Nicky, who has been tormenting him the entire movie. To chronicle the showdown, the movie suddenly shifts to black-and-white and the sets and wardrobe are made up to look like Nic and Nicky are suddenly in "Dr. Caligari."</p><p>Nic then chases Nicky through a collection of scenes that pays homage to some of Cage's most memorable <keyword id="11898343" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movies" source="Orion">movies</keyword>: They stand back-to-back with each other like in "Face/Off;" drive in a hot rod from "Gone in 60 Seconds;" walk down a corridor that are lined with plane seats from "Con Air;" and the sequence concludes in a hotel room reminiscent of Cage's Oscar-winning "Leaving Las Vegas."</p><p>Though Gormican, who is the movie's director and coscreenwriter with Etten, was able to shoot the sequence, it ultimately got left on the cutting room floor as the studio felt "audiences won't accept" the scene, the filmmakers told Insider.</p><p>"It was a six-month battle," Gormican told Insider on a phone call alongside Etten. "In a movie filled with big wins, that was a tough one."</p><div type="image" title="Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage in &quot;The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="92368928" hostid="261" sizebytes="399032"></div><h2>The filmmakers say they shot the scene in secret</h2><p>Looking back on the creation of the scene, both Gormican and Etten felt it was necessary for the movie.</p><p>After researching Cage for the script, they learned through interviews the actor had done over his career that he's a big fan of German expressionist films, particularly "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." The filmmakers didn't just make the silent-film classic a running joke through "Massive Talent," but felt it was a perfect way to conclude Nic and Nicky's interaction.</p><p>"In 'Dr. Caligari,' you have the doctor and then you have this sleepwalker, Cesare, and he controls him. He makes him do things," Gormican said. "So we thought, this is really interesting because that's sort of the Nick/Nicky relationship. Nicky is this figure that's controlling Nick through his youth, vitality, optimism and movie stardom. So for us, it was an interesting parallel."</p><p>When they finally got the script to Cage, he loved the scene.</p><p>"I kept saying to Lionsgate, 'This is the most important thing to Nic. This is one of the reasons why he did the film,'" Gormican said. "And I guess they didn't really believe us." </p><p>The filmmakers say there were indications Lionsgate wasn't as enthusiastic about the scene as they were.</p><p>"That they even let us film that entire sequence in the first place is kind of a miracle," Etten said.</p><p>"I kind of hid the sequence for the most part while I was shooting," Gormican revealed. "It was peak pre-vaccine COVID so the oversight shall we say was lax. I was able to build the sets and sort of hide the scope of what I was shooting until the last minute."</p><h2>Cage had the 'most fun of the entire shoot' while shooting the scene, says the filmmakers</h2><p>Unable to completely copy the look of "Dr. Caligari" or of any of the Cage movie references in fear of copyright infringement, Gormican and his production designer Kevin Kavanaugh ("The Dark Knight Rises," "Nightcrawler") crafted practical sets loosely inspired by the movies.</p><p>The results are exquisitely crafted shots that make you feel as if Nick and Nicky have been thrust into the silent-film era, but maneuvering within Cage's filmography.</p><p>For the "Face/Off" shot, Gormican said they used cardboard cutouts and painted them black to represent shadows. This was done for most of the shots in the entire sequence.</p><p>Then there's the eye makeup on Nick and Nicky, which pays homage to how the characters look in "Dr. Caligari."</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage in black and white standing back-to-back with version of himself" height="595" width="1440" msid="92368930" hostid="261" sizebytes="33504"></div>In the "Gone in 60 Seconds" shot, a car was created that would represent the GT 500 Mustang Cage drove in the 2000 blockbuster. It was built on rollers, Gormican said, so they could push it on the set.<p>Then above the set, 30,000-watt light bulbs were spinning within a zoetrope to create a sense that the car was speeding faster than it really was.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage in a car" height="592" width="1440" msid="92368932" hostid="261" sizebytes="35550"></div>Then there were plane seats made to represent "Con Air." They are lining a hallway that's similar to a set from "Dr. Caligari."<div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage next to airplane seats" height="581" width="1440" msid="92368933" hostid="261" sizebytes="34852"></div>And, finally, Nick and Nicky confront one another in a room made up to look like the one Cage's alcoholic character occupies in "Leaving Las Vegas, a performance that won Cage the best actor Oscar in 1996.<p>The room features large playing cards on the wall and bottles all over the room.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage with playing cards on the wall" height="592" width="1440" msid="92368934" hostid="261" sizebytes="53020"></div>Looking back on the making of the sequence, Gormican said Cage was having the time of his life.<p>"I could tell he was having the most fun of the entire shoot," he said.</p><p>Now with the sequence finished, all that was left was editing it into the movie. But Lionsgate was never going to let that happen.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage holding a microphone" height="2400" width="3600" msid="92368935" hostid="261" sizebytes="200820"></div><h2>The 'very savvy' thing Nicolas Cage did to make sure the scene would see the light of day</h2><p>During post-production, while putting the final touches on the movie, Gormican and Etten said there was a side discussion between them and the studio on the fate of the "Dr. Caligari" scene.</p><p>"The studio's point of view was audiences won't accept it," Gormican said. "They felt if people were asked what scene shouldn't be in the movie, most are going to point to the black-and-white scene."</p><p>"However, our argument was don't we need this story-wise? How do we wrap up this relationship arch if we don't see that?" Etten said. He added that Lionsgate also didn't like the scene because Nick was supposed to kill Nicky at the end of it.</p><p>Despite making their case, Lionsgate won out and cut the scene from the movie.</p><p>In hindsight, the filmmakers believe the movie still works without the "Dr. Caligari" sequence, but they said it was Cage who made sure the scene would one day see the light of day.</p><p>"He got up at the movie's premiere at South By Southwest and said, 'There's an amazing scene in this movie that's not in the movie,' and by making it known in the largest possible way he ensured that this scene would live," Gormican said. "It was a very savvy thing to do."</p><p>The "Dr. Caligari" deleted scene is included as a bonus feature in the digital and Blu-ray/DVD release of "Massive Talent," which is available on Tuesday.</p><p>Here it is:</p>

'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' filmmakers break down the scene they (and Nicolas Cage) desperately wanted in the movie, but the studio axed it

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"Massive Talent" filmmakers <keyword id="13680690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-gormican" source="Orion">Tom Gormican</keyword> and <keyword id="13680689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kevin-etten" source="Orion">Kevin Etten</keyword> explain why their favorite scene was cut from the <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword>.</li><li>It was a black-and-white sequence that pays homage to the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."</li></ul><p>Despite all the acclaim for their <keyword id="11927605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nicolas-cage" source="Orion">Nicolas Cage</keyword> movie "<keyword id="12103415" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent" source="Orion">The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent</keyword>," for filmmakers <a href="https://www.insider.com/unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent-nicolas-cage-writer-director-interview-2022-4">Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten,</a> it still stings that they couldn't keep one scene in the movie.</p><p>Though the movie itself has an off-the-wall premise — Cage plays a fictional version of himself who the CIA recruits to take down an arms dealer (Pedro Pascal) he's recently befriended — when it came to a scene inspired by 1920s silent movie "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," the studio that made the movie, Lionsgate, had to draw the line.</p><p>Originally in the script, towards the end of the movie, Cage has a final confrontation with his alter ego Nicky, who has been tormenting him the entire movie. To chronicle the showdown, the movie suddenly shifts to black-and-white and the sets and wardrobe are made up to look like Nic and Nicky are suddenly in "Dr. Caligari."</p><p>Nic then chases Nicky through a collection of scenes that pays homage to some of Cage's most memorable <keyword id="11898343" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movies" source="Orion">movies</keyword>: They stand back-to-back with each other like in "Face/Off;" drive in a hot rod from "Gone in 60 Seconds;" walk down a corridor that are lined with plane seats from "Con Air;" and the sequence concludes in a hotel room reminiscent of Cage's Oscar-winning "Leaving Las Vegas."</p><p>Though Gormican, who is the movie's director and coscreenwriter with Etten, was able to shoot the sequence, it ultimately got left on the cutting room floor as the studio felt "audiences won't accept" the scene, the filmmakers told Insider.</p><p>"It was a six-month battle," Gormican told Insider on a phone call alongside Etten. "In a movie filled with big wins, that was a tough one."</p><div type="image" title="Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage in &quot;The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="92370959" hostid="261" sizebytes="399032"></div><h2>The filmmakers say they shot the scene in secret</h2><p>Looking back on the creation of the scene, both Gormican and Etten felt it was necessary for the movie.</p><p>After researching Cage for the script, they learned through interviews the actor had done over his career that he's a big fan of German expressionist films, particularly "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." The filmmakers didn't just make the silent-film classic a running joke through "Massive Talent," but felt it was a perfect way to conclude Nic and Nicky's interaction.</p><p>"In 'Dr. Caligari,' you have the doctor and then you have this sleepwalker, Cesare, and he controls him. He makes him do things," Gormican said. "So we thought, this is really interesting because that's sort of the Nick/Nicky relationship. Nicky is this figure that's controlling Nick through his youth, vitality, optimism and movie stardom. So for us, it was an interesting parallel."</p><p>When they finally got the script to Cage, he loved the scene.</p><p>"I kept saying to Lionsgate, 'This is the most important thing to Nic. This is one of the reasons why he did the film,'" Gormican said. "And I guess they didn't really believe us." </p><p>The filmmakers say there were indications Lionsgate wasn't as enthusiastic about the scene as they were.</p><p>"That they even let us film that entire sequence in the first place is kind of a miracle," Etten said.</p><p>"I kind of hid the sequence for the most part while I was shooting," Gormican revealed. "It was peak pre-vaccine COVID so the oversight shall we say was lax. I was able to build the sets and sort of hide the scope of what I was shooting until the last minute."</p><h2>Cage had the 'most fun of the entire shoot' while shooting the scene, says the filmmakers</h2><p>Unable to completely copy the look of "Dr. Caligari" or of any of the Cage movie references in fear of copyright infringement, Gormican and his production designer Kevin Kavanaugh ("The Dark Knight Rises," "Nightcrawler") crafted practical sets loosely inspired by the movies.</p><p>The results are exquisitely crafted shots that make you feel as if Nick and Nicky have been thrust into the silent-film era, but maneuvering within Cage's filmography.</p><p>For the "Face/Off" shot, Gormican said they used cardboard cutouts and painted them black to represent shadows. This was done for most of the shots in the entire sequence.</p><p>Then there's the eye makeup on Nick and Nicky, which pays homage to how the characters look in "Dr. Caligari."</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage in black and white standing back-to-back with version of himself" height="595" width="1440" msid="92370961" hostid="261" sizebytes="33504"></div>In the "Gone in 60 Seconds" shot, a car was created that would represent the GT 500 Mustang Cage drove in the 2000 blockbuster. It was built on rollers, Gormican said, so they could push it on the set.<p>Then above the set, 30,000-watt light bulbs were spinning within a zoetrope to create a sense that the car was speeding faster than it really was.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage in a car" height="592" width="1440" msid="92370965" hostid="261" sizebytes="35550"></div>Then there were plane seats made to represent "Con Air." They are lining a hallway that's similar to a set from "Dr. Caligari."<div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage next to airplane seats" height="581" width="1440" msid="92370967" hostid="261" sizebytes="34852"></div>And, finally, Nick and Nicky confront one another in a room made up to look like the one Cage's alcoholic character occupies in "Leaving Las Vegas, a performance that won Cage the best actor Oscar in 1996.<p>The room features large playing cards on the wall and bottles all over the room.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage with playing cards on the wall" height="592" width="1440" msid="92370969" hostid="261" sizebytes="53020"></div>Looking back on the making of the sequence, Gormican said Cage was having the time of his life.<p>"I could tell he was having the most fun of the entire shoot," he said.</p><p>Now with the sequence finished, all that was left was editing it into the movie. But Lionsgate was never going to let that happen.</p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage holding a microphone" height="2400" width="3600" msid="92370972" hostid="261" sizebytes="200820"></div><h2>The 'very savvy' thing Nicolas Cage did to make sure the scene would see the light of day</h2><p>During post-production, while putting the final touches on the movie, Gormican and Etten said there was a side discussion between them and the studio on the fate of the "Dr. Caligari" scene.</p><p>"The studio's point of view was audiences won't accept it," Gormican said. "They felt if people were asked what scene shouldn't be in the movie, most are going to point to the black-and-white scene."</p><p>"However, our argument was don't we need this story-wise? How do we wrap up this relationship arch if we don't see that?" Etten said. He added that Lionsgate also didn't like the scene because Nick was supposed to kill Nicky at the end of it.</p><p>Despite making their case, Lionsgate won out and cut the scene from the movie.</p><p>In hindsight, the filmmakers believe the movie still works without the "Dr. Caligari" sequence, but they said it was Cage who made sure the scene would one day see the light of day.</p><p>"He got up at the movie's premiere at South By Southwest and said, 'There's an amazing scene in this movie that's not in the movie,' and by making it known in the largest possible way he ensured that this scene would live," Gormican said. "It was a very savvy thing to do."</p><p>The "Dr. Caligari" deleted scene is included as a bonus feature in the digital and Blu-ray/DVD release of "Massive Talent," which is available on Tuesday.</p><p>Here it is:</p>

<div type="image" title="The Director's Chair animated separator" height="261" width="1668" msid="91010267" hostid="261"></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13680690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-gormican" source="Orion">Tom Gormican</keyword> and <keyword id="13680689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kevin-etten" source="Orion">Kevin Etten</keyword> are two of <keyword id="11927605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nicolas-cage" source="Orion">Nicolas Cage</keyword>'s biggest fans. </li><li>Gormican and Etten directed and wrote, respectively, a new film starring Cage as himself.</li></ul><p>Ahead of the SXSW film festival premiere of <a href="https://www.insider.com/unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent-nic-cage-movie-review-sxsw-2022-3">"The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent"</a> last month, a striking poster was stuck to nearly every pole, column, and electrical box on the streets of downtown Austin.</p><p>The flyer featured a large photo of Nicolas Cage, who stars in the new film, as well as a bold request — "Nicolas Cage, I'm you're biggest fan. Please call me" — and a phone number with an Austin, Texas area code. (Apparently, when called, the phone number did, in fact, connect you to an overzealous local fan of the actor's.) </p><p>Tom Gormican, who directed "Massive Talent," and Kevin Etten, who wrote it with Gormican, weren't responsible for the eye-catching posters around Austin. But during an interview with Insider after the film's joyous festival premiere on March 12, the two made it clear that they could give the poster's creator a run for their money. </p><p>The two are also huge Cage fans — Gormican especially can quote lines from the actor's entire <keyword id="11897475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie" source="Orion">movie</keyword> catalog at the drop of a hat. But getting Cage to commit to their unconventional film (in which the legendary actor plays a fictionalized version of himself recruited to work for the CIA) was hardly an easy task. </p><p>"We wrote this letter to him with the script in it, and people had started reading" the script around Hollywood, Gormican said. "There were major producers reading this thing who had worked with Nic, calling Nic, going, 'We want to produce this movie about you.' And he was like, 'That sounds incredible. What movie are you talking about?'" </p><p>The filmmakers noted that the first part of the script portrays the onscreen version of Cage in a rather unflattering light — he's depicted as an attention-seeking, washed-up actor who can barely maintain a relationship with his teenage daughter and estranged wife (played by Lily Sheen and Sharon Horgan, respectively). </p><p>"Act one is the one where he's in the toughest position. He looks the worst. It's gonna take a very game actor to do that," Gormican recalled thinking at the time. Etten, for his part, just wanted Cage to get to the middle of the script, where things "start to turn" for his character. </p><p>But despite their initial worries, Cage eventually agreed to sign on and threw himself headfirst into the role of... himself.</p><h2>The film is an ode to Cage and his incredible film career</h2><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage as himself in &quot;The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.&quot;" height="2000" width="2666" msid="91010270" hostid="261"></div><p>"Massive Talent" is peppered with references to Cage's past work. The opening sequence of the film, for example, features a clip from Cage's 1997 action thriller "Con Air," in which he plays a reformed criminal trying to prevent a group of prison inmates from hijacking a plane.</p><p>Cage told Insider at the red carpet premiere of "Massive Talent" that he <a href="https://www.insider.com/nicolas-cage-faceoff-rewatch-unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent-sxsw-2022-3">rewatched his action film "Face/Off"</a> to prepare for this role. And as Gormican and Etten explained, Cage's body of work provided a trove of inspiration during filming and editing. </p><p>"The opening of the movie, for example, switched back and forth between [clips from] 'Con Air' and 'Face/Off.' In one he's a villain and in one he's the hero," Gormican revealed of the editing process, noting that they ultimately decided to use the clip from "Con Air."</p><p>"We decided to go the hero route," he added.</p><p>During another scene in "Massive Talent," a despondent Cage jumps into a swimming pool with a beer in hand and has a moment of silent contemplation underneath the water. It's a direct reference to a similar scene in the 1995 drama "Leaving Las Vegas," in which Cage plays an alcoholic screenwriter determined to drink himself to death (he later won a Golden Globe and Academy Award for the performance). </p><p>"I said, 'So you just go down there, and you're sort of under the water, you're in this position,'" Gormican recalled of recreating that scene with Cage. "And he said, 'Tom, Tom, Tom. I know, I've already done it.'" </p><p>"It was just surreal," Gormican added. "You're directing a scene from this legend's career, from a movie you love." </p><h2>Cage's personal anecdotes and suggestions made it into the final cut of the movie</h2><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage in &quot;The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.&quot;" height="2000" width="2666" msid="91010274" hostid="261"></div><p>Cage's prolific body of work wasn't the only inspiration during the filmmaking process — both Gormican and Etten told Insider that the actor's real-life anecdotes frequently made their way into the script, including a conversation Cage had with Horgan about a unique belt he'd received from his dresser. </p><p>"Once he got comfortable with us and the idea that we were there to celebrate his life and career, then he was more comfortable giving the people what they want," Etten said. "It was that trust. He would tell his stories, and we would go, 'Okay, maybe we could work that in.'" </p><p>Perhaps the film's most iconic moment comes about midway through, when Cage has an intense conversation with Nicky, an imagined younger version of himself, in a Spanish bar. He's just been recruited by the CIA to spy on his new friend Javi (Pedro Pascal), an eccentric but kindly millionaire who's a superfan of Cage.</p><p>To go into details of the two Nics' conversation would be a bit of a spoiler, but the gist of it involves Nicky confronting Cage for not being bold enough. Nicky then slaps the elder Cage and picks him up to give him a passionate French kiss. To conclude the chat, Nic's alter ego reminds him, "I'm Nic fucking Cage," drawing out the vowel sounds in "fucking" into a guttural yell that crescendos into an excited whoop. </p><p>According to Etten, the delightfully absurd and meta make-out was all Cage's idea. "He was like, 'Do you guys like that idea?'" Etten recalled. "We're like, 'Uh, yeah.'"</p><p>The filmmakers even added in Nicky's line, "You tell them Nic Cage smooches good!" at the behest of Cage. </p><p>As for the passionate delivery of "Nic fucking Cage"? That was all Cage too. "That is something you can't direct or write," Gormican said.</p><p>"The entire crew was just sitting there looking at each other, 'cause it takes a minute to finish," the director recalled of filming the memorable line. "We finished our take and we're just like 'Cut.' And [Cage] comes over, and smiles at me, and he goes, 'I wanted it to be transcendent.'" </p><h2>During production, Cage stole the show in more ways than one</h2><div type="image" title="Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage in &quot;The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.&quot;" height="2000" width="2666" msid="91010278" hostid="261"></div>Despite his eccentricities, both Etten and Gormican said Cage is, above all else, a consummate professional, and completely dedicated to his craft. <p>"One of the things that you want is an actor who really cares. And I don't think we've met or worked with anybody that prepared as much as Nic did for this film," Gormican said. "I'll give you an example. We did a table read on Zoom, with all the actors, right before we started shooting, just to hear it out loud. And Nic was already off-book of a 120-page script."</p><p>"Nic was there in his pink leather motorcycle jacket, and giant glasses, just destroying all of his parts. And they were all in awe," Gormican continued. "That's what you get with Nic. After 117 or 118 movies, he still loves acting." </p><p>Cage previously described his acting technique as "nouveau shamanism," <a href="https://www.insider.com/nicolas-cage-acting-technique-nouveau-shamanism-sxsw-interview-2022-3">telling Insider in a red-carpet interview at SXSW</a> that his approach to acting is inspired, in part, by German expressionist films. He particularly loves the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari," an anecdote that also made its way into "Massive Talent."</p><p>The actor's nouveau shamanism technique — in which he commits to a bombastic onscreen performance but doesn't stay in character when not filming — is seemingly a direct contrast to the <a href="https://www.insider.com/succession-jeremy-strong-method-acting-kendall-roy-brian-cox-2021-9">infamous method acting technique</a>, which has been utilized in recent years by actors like Jared Leto. </p><p>His unique approach to the craft definitely puts Cage in a complete league of his own, Gormican explained. </p><p>"He can be having a very casual conversation with you about whatever's going on in your life," the director said. But the minute it comes time to film, Gormican revealed, Cage "locks in milliseconds" regardless of the intensity of the scene.</p><p>"It takes everybody, including the other actors, by surprise because he could turn it on and turn it off immediately," the filmmaker added. "He's not a sort of method actor by any stretch." </p><p>Cage is in nearly every scene in "Massive Talent," but he pivots between high-stakes action sequences and quietly emotional conversations with an ease that might be surprising to those accustomed to the actor's more high-octane performances, in films like "National Treasure" (2004) and "Kick Ass" (2010).</p><p>The final scene — in which Cage, having reconciled with his daughter, watches a movie with her — was particularly poignant to film, according to Etten. </p><p>"When she puts her head on his shoulder, and he starts to tear up, I was watching the monitors and I started getting emotional," Etten said. "I look over and I see these old crew guys all covering their tears. I was like, 'Oh my God.'" </p><div type="image" title="Nicolas Cage snarl" height="592" width="790" msid="91010281" hostid="261"></div><p>Cage contains multitudes, for lack of a better term. From an outside perspective, he's enigmatic, a larger-than-life personality with a lengthy filmography and a penchant for the bizarre.</p><p>According to Etten and Gormican, however, Cage's reputation is a bit misleading. The eccentricity is there, of course, but so too is a deep-rooted commitment to films and filmmaking, regardless of the genre or caliber.</p><p>"Nic has such a breadth of the types of films that he's a fan of," Gormican said. "He was really into J-horror when we were shooting. I was talking to him about, 'Dr. Caligari' and 'Metropolis' and all the German expressionist films. But also, as he says in the film, 'I love "Croods 2." I made it with Emma Stone.'" </p><p>For some, Cage's recent films have ushered in a new era for the actor, a comeback of sorts after <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/nicolas-cage-defends-vod-films-debt-1235211377/">highly-publicized financial and legal troubles in the early 2010s</a>. </p><p>But as Cage himself reminds the audience in "Massive Talent," he never really left — and this film is proof that the actor is here to stay.</p>

2 of Nicolas Cage's biggest fans convinced the actor to play himself in an outlandish new movie. Here's how they pulled it off — and what Cage himself brought to the script.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Cage says "<keyword id="12103415" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent" source="Orion">The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent</keyword>" is too "whacked-out" for him.</li><li>"I'm not this neurotic, high-strung, anxiety-ridden guy all the time," he told Collider.</li><li>He told the site he will never see the movie, but he's told it's good.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-best-and-worst-nicolas-cage-movies-2020-1">Nicolas Cage</a> is so freaked out by the premise of his next movie that he says he will never watch it.</p><p>In "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," hitting theaters in April 2022, Cage stars as a version of himself who decides to give up acting. As a final hurrah, however, he agrees to a $1 million payday to attend the birthday party of a Mexican billionaire (Pedro Pascal), who's a Cage superfan and wants the actor to perform his iconic characters over his career for him.</p><p>"I'm never going to see that movie," <a href="https://collider.com/nicolas-cage-the-unbearable-weight-of-massive-talent-comments/">Cage told Collider</a> in a recent interview when asked about the project.</p><p>"I'm told it's a good movie," he continued. "My manager, Mike Nilon, who is also a producer on it, looked at it. He was very happy. I'm told the [test] audience loved the movie. But it's just too much of a whacked-out trip for me to go to a movie theater and watch me play [director] Tom Gormican's highly-neurotic, anxiety-ridden version of me."</p><p>The Oscar-winner admitted that he's made a career out of playing outlandish characters that audiences can't get enough of. But in real life, he's not really like that.</p><p>"I'm really [made of] quiet, meditative, thoughtful moments," he added. "I'm not this neurotic, high-strung, anxiety-ridden guy all the time."</p><div type="image" title="nicolas cage" height="1333" width="1778" msid="86247701" hostid="261"></div>However, Cage said that's what the director wanted, so he gave it to him onscreen. It doesn't mean he's going to see the finished product, though.<p>"I won't see it," he told reporter Vinnie Mancuso, "but I do hope you enjoy it."</p><p>Recently Tiffany Haddish, who also stars in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," <a href="https://www.insider.com/tiffany-haddish-interview-the-card-counter-2021-9">told Insider</a> what she learned from working with Cage on the movie.</p><p>"He knew everything about the movie; every single thing that was going on," she said.</p><p>"Sometimes I do <keyword id="11898343" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movies" source="Orion">movies</keyword> and I just want to know my character and then be surprised by everything else," Haddish continued. "I always felt in that surprise there may be some magic that comes from spontaneity. But after working with him, I realized I should know everything and then in my mind find room for surprises."</p>

You Searched For "tom gormican" and got 4 results

'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' filmmakers break down the scene they (and Nicolas Cage) desperately wanted in the movie, but the studio axed it

Jason Guerrasio

'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' filmmakers break down the scene they (and Nicolas Cage) desperately wanted in the movie, but the studio axed it

Jason Guerrasio

2 of Nicolas Cage's biggest fans convinced the actor to play himself in an outlandish new movie. Here's how they pulled it off — and what Cage himself brought to the script.

Libby Torres

Nicolas Cage vows never to watch the movie where he plays himself because it's 'too much of a whacked-out trip' - even for him

Jason Guerrasio

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