Nicolas Cage talks with Jimmy Carter about his career in 1997

He did not seem real happy on this day...it happens...doing publicly and talking about yourself can be difficult...He's a great unique actor...This day we are seeing the film, Conair...

During the early years of his career, Cage starred in a variety of films such as Valley Girl (1983), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987) and Wild at Heart (1990). During this period, John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36 listed him as one of twelve Promising New Actors of 1984. For his performance in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

He received his second Academy Award nomination for his performance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation (2002). He subsequently appeared in more mainstream films, such as The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), Face/Off (1997), City of Angels (1998), Windtalkers (2002), Lord of War (2005), The Wicker Man (2006) and Knowing (2009). He also directed the film Sonny (2002), for which he was nominated for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival. Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and The Life of David Gale (2003). In October 1997, Cage was ranked No. 40 in Empire magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list, while the next year, he was placed No. 37 in Premiere's 100 most powerful people in Hollywood.