He was born Nicolas Kim Coppola but later changed his name to Nicolas Cage to avoid the appearance of favoritism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola. The name was selected as an inspiration from Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. He has a long list of family associations with filming industry. His mother, Joy Vogelsang was a choreographer and dancer. His grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino. His cousins are directors Roman Coppola & Sofia Coppola. His two brothers are New York radio personality Marc “The Cope” Coppola and director Christopher Coppola and the list goes on.
Early Life
Cage was born on 7th January, 1964. He graduated from Beverly Hills High School which is well known for producing entertainers, artists & comedians. His first theatre performance came in school show named “Golden Boy”. He also studied at UCLA School of Film, Theatre and Television. Nicholas started his filming career with a few minor roles which set a platform for his future success. After a small role in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, he has appeared in both small and huge budget movies with equal zeal and zest. Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy “Moonstruck” and the cult-classic comedy “Raising Arizona”.
He has been nominated twice for Academy Award once for his movie Leaving Las Vegas in which he played the role of a suicidal alcoholic and on other occasion for his acting in the movie “Adaption”. He was awarded the Academy Award for his performance in “Leaving Las Vegas”. Cage claims to have created a new method of acting which he calls “Nouveau Shamanic”.
The top ten movies are listed below;
- Adaption
- Rumble Fish
- Face Off
- Leaving Las Vegas
- The Rock
- Raising Arizona
- World Trade Center
- Red Rock West
- Ghost Rider
- Mandy
