Many of the worst things Face/Off actor has starred in over 100 films, ranging from comedy to action to drama. Even though his famous uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola, adamantly refused to give him his first acting gig to avoid appearances of nepotism, Cage started landing roles in 1981 and has since proven himself to be what some regard as one of the most underrated actors of this generation. During his prolific acting career, he has developed a unique performance style that makes him all the more legendary.
The many The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal as billionaire super fan Javi Gutierrez.
In interviews, Nicolas Cage has described his method acting style as "Nouveau Shamanic." This style is influenced by German Expressionism and Japanese kabuki theater, and has been crafted by Cage's experimental approach to method acting. His acting style is polarizing, with some disliking his overacting and others giving high praise to his expressive performances. Having worked with Nicolas Cage for 1990's Wild at Heart, director David Lynch described Cage as the "jazz musician of American acting." Part of his Nouveau Shamanic approach includes doing some pretty extreme things for his roles. Here are the worst things Nicolas Cage did to get into his movie performances.
Eating Live Cockroaches
Unless Renfield pushes further limits, not much can beat what he did for 1988's Vampire's Kiss. Playing a literary agent who believes he's become a vampire after a night of ion, Cage's character descends down a mental spiral of increasing intensity. Originally, the film's director only intended Cage to eat raw eggs for the scene. However, in typical Nicolas Cage fashion, he wanted something more extreme. According to the story, Cage actually asked to eat a live bat for the scene, which may or may not have been inspired by the infamous 1982 Ozzy Osbourne incident. Due to the uncontrollability and risks associated with bat-eating, Cage instead settled with a cockroach. He had to grudgingly stomach down three cockroaches to get the scene.
Having Hot Yogurt Poured Over His Toes
As one of Nic Cage's best horror films, the meme goldmine that Vampire's Kiss became has more on-set tales to be told. In addition to the previously mentioned cockroach scene, Cage asked for hot yogurt to be poured over his toes so he could express more ion during the lovemaking scene with Jennifer Beals. Cage considers Vampire's Kiss to be the playground that helped develop his Nouveau Shamanic method, which explains his entertainingly over-the-top performance in the film. While the beginning of Cage's unhinged performance style started shining through in the year prior with his roles in Raising Arizona and Moonstruck, Vampire's Kiss is where his wide-eyed overacting fully blossomed.
Pulling Out Teeth Without Anesthetic
One of his more infamous method acting tales include him pulling his own teeth out without anesthetic for the 1984 Vietnam War drama Birdy. Starring alongside Matthew Modine, Cage wanted to pull the teeth out without any numbing agent to get a better feel of the Vietnam War soldier experience. According to Cage, they were actually baby teeth that he planned to get extracted anyway. Both Birdy and Cage's performance received high praise from critics.
Keeping His Head Wrapped In Bandages for Five Weeks
Continuing to push his method acting for Birdy, Cage kept his head wrapped in bandages for five straight weeks. Cage was so dedicated to this stunt that he even slept in them. His character wears bandages as the result of a bomb explosion, which also influenced Cage's teeth-pulling decision. He received humiliating treatment from onlookers during this time, and his face was covered in painful acne and ingrown hairs after removing the bandages. Birdy enforced Cage's aptitude for critically-acclaimed drama roles, something that Pig once again proves in more recent years.
Wrestling With A Poisonous Snake
For his role in 2013's Joe, Nicolas Cage wrestles with a dangerously poisonous snake in one scene. In Joe, Cage protects the 15-year-old Gary played by Tye Sheridan (Ready Player One) from his abusive, alcoholic father. Cage's surprising choice to wrestle with a poisonous, large-fanged cottonmouth was meant to add more weight to the fear he needed to portray in the scene. Cage oddly claimed wrestling with a poisonous snake relaxed him.
Keeping A Drunk Actor In His Trailer
For his much-praised role in 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, Cage had alcoholic actor and poet Tony Dingman stay in his trailer to serve as his personal "drinking coach." In the semi-biographical film based on the novel by John O'Brien, Cage plays screenwriter Ben Sanderson as he moves to Las Vegas to drink himself to death until he ignites a relationship with a prostitute named Sera (Elisabeth Shue). At Cage's cousin Roman Coppola's suggestion, Cage brought Dingman to stay in his trailer to study his alcoholism. According to Cage, Dingman would lay in the fetal position in his trailer with Cage playing bongos. Dingman would wax poetic, inspiring Cage's line, "We mustn't kick the bar, we lean into the bar." In addition to working with Dingman, Cage played some scenes while completely drunk. His Leaving Las Vegas role earned Cage an Oscar for Best Actor.
Painting Himself As A "Voodoo Icon" and Sewing 1,000-Year-Old Egyptian Artifacts Into His Costume
During a promotional interview for his 2011 film Cage put into his Ghost Rider abs, Nicolas Cage was once again using his Nouveau Shamanic technique to get into his role for Spirit of Vengeance. His voodoo persona was intended to prep his mindset into believing that he was a being from another dimension, which his role as Johnny Blaze calls for. Upon arriving on set, Cage would then heighten the persona's fearful aura by not speaking to anyone. While the act is not self-mutilating or endangering to others, this can still be seen as one of the worst things Nicholas Cage did for movie roles - if not, at least the most bizarrely epic.
