We deconstruct the weirdest Nicolas Cage interview of all time
Get ready for karate kicks, somersaults and nudity
Nicolas Cage is interesting, to say the least. From the downright weird opening scene of Face/Off where he gropes a choir girl and seems to orgasm quite quickly, to the utterly awful "NOT THE BEES!" moment of the frankly terrible Wicker Man remake, Cage has had some truly iconic moments.
But it's not just on the big screen where he's succumbed to meltdowns. Oh no, the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola (that could explain a lot of his career) has been involved in some tremendous real life moments where he's forgotten how to human - our favourite being this infamous interview with Terry Wogan, currently sending the internet into a panic after it was unearthed by Secret Cinema and subsequently sent viral.
WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS. THAT?
The best bit of television to ever grace the airwaves, that's what.
It's no surprise that Cage used to dabble in mushrooms and cocaine, and this brief interview sums up all of the madness that's made him such a cultural icon. Fair enough he might an icon for the completely wrong reasons, but he's an icon nonetheless, and this performance as 'himself' has got to be better than most of his characters.
Let's take a break it down in a bid to analyse just what is going on:
He somersaults and throws cards at the audience
Nicolas cage's entrance on a BBC talk show in 1990If he stopped at the somersault it might've been delightfully quirky, like when Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka first appeared from his factory. But no, Cage has to start throwing cards from his pocket into the audience like some deranged Vegas blackjack dealer.
Notice how Wogan awkwardly claps and smiles in the background? That's because he fears for his life. His calm British life doesn't need this crap. He wants a safe name like David Attenborough, not what could easily be the child of Satan himself.
I mean, look at that face. It's like when the Dementors start to suck Harry Potter's life force from him.
The karate kick
Good on him. Well executed kick. But some may say it is the class-A fuelled confidence driving him rather than a strict and unwavering discipline for martial arts. Either way, this interview is already award worthy and he hasn't even said a word yet.
Takes off t-shirt and gives it to Terry Wogan
Nicolas Cage becomes president. He introduces one law. Fist pumps must be given to the air every time you take your top off.
The insanity really goes up a notch here, amplified by Tezza's awkward polite fold of his t-shirt, which he keeps on his lap and grips on to for the rest of the interview like it's some reminder that this situation is actually happening, he's not in a feverish nightmare or drug trip. This is actually real life.
He explains why he changed his name, ends anecdote with creepy as hell smile
Surprise surprise, Nicolas went to a school for bad ass kids.
However, sad story time: he did get bullied for having his famous uncle's second name, poor lad. But, obviously, there's a U-turn in the tale. Instead of telling a teacher or parent, he says he went to school dressed in a leather jacket and sunglasses, pretending to be a fake cousin threatening the bullies to stay away from him. This works, because of course it does. This is the dawn of his acting career and the decision is made to change his second name from Coppola to Cage.
A legend is born.
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