Nicolas Cage Explains Why He’s Not ‘Sitting By A Pool Getting Bombed On Mai Tais And Dom Perignon’ Every Day

In The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage plays “Nick” Cage, a fictionalized version of himself. Sure, both Nic and Nick were in Face/Off and Leaving Las Vegas and National Treasure, but unlike real Cage, fake Cage, uh, swears more

“A version of Nick Cage that doesn’t want to spend time with his kid doesn’t exist. I also said to [writer-director Tom Gormican], ‘I don’t use that much profanity.’ He’s got me saying the F-bomb every other sentence. Where’s this coming from That’s not me,” Cage (the real one, arguably the realest one) told the Hollywood Reporter. “He said, ‘Neurotic Nick Cage is the best Nick Cage.’ I have a lot of quiet moments at home with just my cat, reading. Do we want to show any of that No, because it’s not fun.”

Also fun: learning about Cage’s mantra.

“I developed this mantra, which is: ‘I never had a career, I only have work.’ And when I say that, I am saying that I’m a better man when I’m working because I don’t want to be that guy that’s sitting by a pool getting bombed on mai tais and Dom Perignon.

That’s the biggest difference between Nicolas “I Am a Goth” Cage and myself: I do want to be that guy that’s sitting by a pool getting bombed on mai tais and Dom Perignon. Also, he’s a multi-millionaire Oscar-winning actor; I had cereal for lunch. And breakfast.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent opens on April 22.