Nicolas Cage Says He Worked Hard On His Straight To Video Movies

Nicolas Cage is still big. It’s the movies that got small

The actor is making the rounds for his latest film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, a role that calls for Cage to play a fictionalized version of himself.

It marks something of a comeback for Cage after a string of movies that did less than boffo box office. He claimed the phone stopped ringing after films like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance sank.

Not helping matters was the perception that Cage was spinning out of control, owing the IRS $6.3 million in unpaid property taxes and having a monthly nut that far exceeded his income.

Cage started taking any role that was offered, according to his candid interview in GQ Magazine, .

“The phone stopped ringing. It was like, ‘What do you mean we’re not doing ‘National Treasure 3’? It’s been 14 years. Why not?'” Deep down, Cage knew why not.”Well, ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ didn’t work, and ‘Ghost Rider’ didn’t really sell tickets. And ‘Drive Angry’, that just came and went.'”

Compounding is worries was the care needed by his elderly mother, Cage said. “I’ve got all these creditors and the IRS and I’m spending $20,000 a month trying to keep my mother out of a mental institution, and I can’t,” he says. “It was just all happening at once.” Bankruptcy was not an option, Cage said. So he started working hard, taking anything that he was offered. The size of the budget was not indicative of what he put into it, he insisted.

“When I was doing four movies a year, back to back to back, I still had to find something in them to be able to give it my all,” he said. “They didn’t work, all of them. Some of them were terrific, like Mandy, but some of them didn’t work. But I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.”

Fortunately, his latest role in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has allowed him to retire his debts. But that doesn’t mean he will go back to bigger budget features.

“I enjoy making movies like Pig and Leaving Las Vegas more than I enjoy making movies like National Treasure,'” he said. “When I talk about fair-weather friends in Hollywood, I’m not talking about [National Treasure producer] Jerry Bruckheimer. I’m talking about Disney. They’re like an ocean liner. Once they go in a certain direction, you’ve got to get a million tugboats to try and swivel it back around.”