Nicolas Cage gets candid about playing himself in the new comedy movie, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." Image Source: Looper 

Nicolas Cage gets candid about playing himself in the new comedy movie, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent."

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is an upcoming American black comedy movie starring Nicolas Cage as Nick Cage, in a fictionalized version of himself. The movie also stars Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Neil Patrick Harris, etc. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor shared his challenge of playing himself on-screen.

In the movie, Nick Cage accepts a $1 million offer from a fan played by Pedro Pascal to attend a party in Spain, after which he finds himself in a real-life action-adventure and comes across a bunch of references from his past roles. Nicolas shares that he turned the project down about three or four times, but a letter from Tom Gormican made him say yes to the project.

Nicolas Cage and Perdo Pascal. Image Source: Collider 

Nicolas shared that he wanted no part of himself to be in the movie, but the letter made him understand that the movie is not a mockumentary about Nicolas Cage, but it’s about celebrating his iconic characters. The actor shared that playing the younger version of him was fun, clarifying that the fictionalized Nick Cage is very different from the real-life Nicolas Cage.

Nicolas Cage shared that Tom’s idea for the movie was about the evolution of Nick Cage’s character, but stated that the version of Nick Cage that does not want to spend his time with his kid does not exist. He added that Tom made him cuss a lot, which he does not usually do, but according to Tom, nobody wants to see Nick Cage spending time with his cat at home.

Talking about the plotline where Nick Cage in the movie feels that his career is not where it should be, Nicolas Cage said that when Pig came out and resonated with a lot of people, he called up Tom to suggest changing the writing, but added that there was a mutual departure that happened between him and Hollywood a long time ago. Nicolas Cage shared that he started to read a lot of philosophies and avoided going to award ceremonies.

Even after a couple of his movies did not work, his phone stopped ringing, but he went back to his roots and invested time in independent cinema. He said if people would look at his entire career after 43 years of working in the industry, he is somewhere near $6billion and added that three unsuccessful movies is not going to eradicate from the studios. 

The actor was asked about his decision to say yes to a lot of movies back in 2009 due to a flurry of financial woes, to which he said that he only said yes to the projects that he felt that he could bring some authenticity to. He also explained that the constant amount of work has made him better at his job. The actor was asked if he has any regrets when it comes to saying yes to a project, to which he explains that there are none.

Nicolas Cage and Neil Patrick Harris. Image Source: PlanetSmarts 

Nicolas Cage goes on to say that he has no regrets because every mistake he has made in the past has helped him improve and do a better job on the next project. The actor is a believer that everything happens for a reason and states that that’s the healthiest and most positive way of looking at things in life. He also shared when asked if he’d be interested in being a part of 1997’s Face/Off sequel, to which he said that he had not heard anything like the sequel being made, but the idea of the sequel is fascinating. However, John Woo was a significant voice in the film, and a remake would be impossible without him.

Nicolas Cage, who kind of said that he would not watch himself playing him on-screen, admitted that he had to watch the movie two-three times to give his views as a producer. He admitted that it was tough for him to turn half of his brain and heart off and watch the movie as a neutral audience, but has decided not to watch it again. Nicolas Cage shared that he got the "not the bees" reference added to the script and stated that the movie allowed him to play with the memeification that has surrounded it.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is set to premiere on April 22nd, 2019 by Lionsgate!