At this point, we can all agree that Nicolas Cage is more than an actor; he’s a pop culture icon. Despite winning an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas and being one of the busiest actors in recent decades, since the spread of the internet, he has also become a meme. But how does he feel about all of this?
Following the world premiere screening of his new comedy, Dream Scenario, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Nic Cage was asked about his most viral video that turned him into a meme: Nicolas Cage Losing His Shit. Although it’s ten years old, it keeps gaining views and going viral every now and then. But what did he think about being turned into a meme?
An unprecedented phenomenon
“I think I might have been the first actor who woke up one morning and saw how someone had put together a montage of my moments of crisis. It was a selection of scenes from movies they called Nicolas Cage Losing His Shit. It went viral overnight worldwide, and I kept wondering, ‘What’s happening to me?'”
At first, the actor had a tough time and even considered legal action, but soon he realized that it was just another aspect of himself, and he had to embrace it because he didn’t have much of a choice.
“It kept growing exponentially and getting bigger,” Cage continues. “There was nothing I could do to stop it. I couldn’t legally stop it, I couldn’t stop it in any way. I sat there, and it started to generate memeification, they started making Photoshop montages… and I said, ‘Well, I have to put this somewhere.’ Later on, I read Dream Scenario, and I realized I could turn this phenomenon into something more.”
In “Dream Scenario,” the actor plays the role of Paul Matthews, an unlucky family man whose life takes a turn when millions of strangers start seeing him in their dreams. However, when his nightly appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom…
Produced by A24, the film seems to take the best of the actor and elevate it to another level. Its release is scheduled for November 10th in the United States, and it could be another redemption for Nicolas Cage.
