Nicolas Cage Explains WHY He Changed His Name

'The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' star Nicolas Cage takes the WIRED Autocomplete Interview and answers the internet's burning questions about himself.


Follow WIRED:



Also, check out the free WIRED channel on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.

ABOUT WIRED
WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. Through thought-provoking stories and videos, WIRED explores the future of business, innovation, and culture.

[WesleyRiot]

He literally named himself after a comic character. What a legend

[Bilal_Aslam_]

I was today years old when I found out that “Nicolas Cage” is not the name that “Nicolas Cage” was born with

[mistersydster]

In this clip he masterfully underplays the fact that he's related to one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and so that name would follow him for better or worse if he had kept it. He points to it with the reference but just barely.

[shaun]

"Speaks volumes about everything I've been up to ever since."

It sure does.

[Owlman]

Fun fact. Nick cage has a ghost rider tattoo that they had to make up over when filming ghost rider. The cage is a nerd, and we love him for it

[norml.hugh-mann]

He changes his name every generation so people never learn his dark secret of being undead

[MrWebby]

People seem confused. Cage is part of the Coppola dynasty, and is fourth generation of five generations making and starring in US films. His uncle is Francis Ford Coppola, director of Apocalypse Now (as mentioned) and the Godfather trilogy. This obviously makes Talia Shire his aunt and Sofia Coppola, and Jason and Robert Schwartzman, his cousins.

In total, the family has 23 Oscar nominations and 9 wins.

[millersaur]

Nicolas Cage changing his name to Nicolas Cage is the most Nicolas Cage thing ever

[chaplainfatty]

Most people don't know it, but Cage is just old school Henry Cavill

[kamalindsey]

I love how he answers questions. There is no manufactured magic to it, no snobbery. He just gives you a straight answer and then moves on lol. Kind of rare with celebrities.

[joshpfleegor]

Named himself after a comic book character and an avant-garde composer extraordinaire, what a legend

[lukecoffman]

If anyone doesn't know, John Cage was an absolute madman of a composer. If you go down the rabbit hole of the songs he wrote, you'll find some crazy things.

[UmbrellaPharmaceuticals]

To this day, I still call Nicolas Cage Johnny Cage

[tanerreister]

Are we not going to draw attention to how self aware, sly, and brilliant he is when saying:
"Speaks volumes about everything I've been up to ever since"

[SanskarWagley]

Well he also wanted to avoid charges of nepotism because his uncle is Francis Ford Coppola

[la_gobba_di_aigor]

As a nerd art major the fact that he not only knows who John Cage is but named himself after him and Power Man made my stupid little heart so happy.

[comiclover]

It really does speak volumes. His style of acting and the movies he chooses mixes the fun and power of Luke Cage with the reckless abandon and high art of John Cage

[ssgta]

He one of my favorite actors. He doesn’t care if the movie is ‘wildly’ successful. It’s about the love of conveying a message. The movie ‘Joe’ did just that, and I loved it!
Also, if you haven’t seen it, ‘Revenge: A Love Story’. A raw take on a police officer seeing the system fail so he goes John Wick to set the situation right

[ghostdogsherron]

He's already one of my favorite actors but now he just went two times named his name after a black superhero! 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[crazyinsane]

He refused to ride on the coattails of Francis Ford Coppola and let his talent speak for itself.

What a lad.