Nicolas Cage

Early life

Cage was born in Long Beach, California, to August Coppola, a professor of literature, and Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer. He was raised in a Catholic family. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of mainly German and Polish descent with some English and Scottish ancestry on her father's side. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata. Through his father, he is a nephew of both director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and a cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert and Jason Schwartzman. Cage is the youngest of three sons. His two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy. He said he started acting because he "wanted to be James Dean. I saw him in Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden. Nothing affected me—no rock song, no classical music—the way Dean affected me in Eden. It blew my mind. I was like, 'That's what I want to do'." At age 15, he tried to convince his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, to give him a screen test, telling him "I'll show you acting". His outburst was met with "silence in the car". By this stage of his career, Coppola had already directed Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman and Robert De Niro. Although early in his career Cage appeared in some of his uncle's films, he changed his name to Nicolas Cage to avoid the appearance of nepotism as Coppola's nephew. Despite using this stage name his entire professional life, he only legally changed it in 2025. His choice of name was inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage and composer John Cage.

The fortune

Cage has been called one of the most generous stars in Hollywood. He donated $2 million to Amnesty International for them to use to offer rehabilitation shelters, medical services and psychological and reintegration services to some of the 300,000 children forced to fight in conflicts across the world. He has also donated $1 million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He became the first artist to support ArtWorks, an artist engagement program to raise awareness of fundamental rights at work, including freedom from slavery and from child labor. During 2023, while filming The Surfer in Western Australia, Cage personally phoned in an AU$5,000 donation to the Channel Seven Perth Telethon. Cage has also been honored with a Humanitarian award from the United Nations for his works and appointed as a UN ambassador for Global Justice in 2009 and again in 2013. He led a campaign around the film Lord of War to raise awareness about international arms control, supported "Heal the Bay", the United Negro College Fund efforts, and the Royal United Hospital's Forever Friends Appeal to build intensive care units for babies.

Personal life

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, with whom he has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born in 1990). Weston has been the vocalist of two symphonic black metal bands, Eyes of Noctrum and Arsh Anubis. Weston also appeared in his father's film Lord of War as a helicopter mechanic, and in the 2014 film Rage as Nicolas' character's younger self. Through Weston, Cage has two grandsons born in 2014 and 2016. In July 2024, Weston was arrested for assaulting numerous people with a deadly weapon, including his mother and his best friend; he was released on a $150,000 bond and was later sentenced to two years in a mental health diversion program. Cage's first wife was actress Patricia Arquette, whom he married in April 1995 and divorced in 2001. His second marriage was to singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. (Cage, an Elvis fan, used Elvis as the inspiration for his performance in Wild at Heart.) They married in Kamuela, Hawaii, on August 10, 2002, and filed for divorce 107 days later on November 25, 2002. The divorce was finalized on May 24, 2004. Cage's third wife was Alice Kim. They were married at a private ranch in northern California on July 30, 2004. She gave birth to their son Kal-El in 2005. They divorced in January 2016. In March 2019, Cage married Erika Koike in Las Vegas, only to file for annulment four days later, stating he was too intoxicated to understand his own actions and that Koike failed to disclose "the full nature and extent of her relationship with another person." He was granted a divorce from Koike three months later. On February 16, 2021, Cage married Riko Shibata (芝田 璃子, Shibata Riko). Their daughter August was born in 2022.

Career

Cage made his acting debut in the 1981 television pilot The Best of Times, which was never picked up by ABC. His film debut followed in 1982, with a minor role as an unnamed co-worker of Judge Reinhold's character in the coming-of-age film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, having originally auditioned for Reinhold's part. His experience on the film was marred by cast members endlessly quoting his uncle's films, which inspired him to change his name. Cage's first starring role came opposite Deborah Foreman in the romantic comedy Valley Girl (1983), in which he played a punk who falls in love with the titular valley girl, a plot loosely inspired by Romeo and Juliet. The film was a modest box office success and has been branded a cult classic. He auditioned for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. Cage, however, would co-star in Coppola's adaptation of another Hinton novel, Rumble Fish, in that year. In 1984, Cage appeared in three period films, none of which fared well at the box office. In the drama, Racing with the Moon (1984), Cage featured opposite Sean Penn as friends who are awaiting deployment to the United States Marine Corps. In Coppola's crime drama The Cotton Club he portrayed a fictionalized version of mob hitman Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, earning praise from critic Paul Attanasio for "artfully [using] his few moments to sketch a brawny, violent thug." His final release of the year was Alan Parker's drama Birdy, in which he starred with Matthew Modine. Cage lost weight for the role and had two of his front teeth pulled out to appear disfigured. Despite massively underperforming at the box office, the film, and Cage and Modine's performances, received positive reviews, with The New York Times critic Janet Maslin writing, "Mr. Cage very sympathetically captures Al's urgency and frustration. Together, these actors work miracles with what might have been unplayable." In 1986, Cage starred in the little-seen Canadian sports drama The Boy in Blue and his uncle's fantasy comedy Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) as the husband to Kathleen Turner's character. He then starred in the Coen brothers' crime comedy Raising Arizona (1987) as a dim-witted ex-con. Cage's biggest breakthrough came in 1987 with the romantic comedy Moonstruck, in which he starred alongside Cher as a hot-tempered baker. The film was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning Cage a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy In his retrospective review, Roger Ebert wrote that he felt Cage's performance was worthy of an Oscar.

In 1989, Cage starred in the black comedy Vampire's Kiss as a man who falls in love with a vampire and soon begins to believe himself as a vampire. The film was a major box office flop but has developed a cult following largely due to Cage's surrealistic and over-the-top performance appearing in internet memes. Critic Vincent Canby felt the film was "

Sanctions & controversy

Kathleen Turner wrote in her 2008 memoir, Send Your Roses, that Cage had stolen a chihuahua and was arrested twice for driving drunk while they filmed Peggy Sue Got Married. Later she admitted Cage did not steal a chihuahua and stated that she was sorry. Cage won a libel action against Turner, her publisher Headline Publishing Group, and Associated Newspapers (whose allegations the Daily Mail had repeated when they published an excerpt from the book). Christina Fulton sued Cage in December 2009 for $13 million and for the house in which she was living. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling; the order resulted from Cage's financial difficulties. The case was settled in June 2011. Cage was arrested in New Orleans' French Quarter district on April 15, 2011, for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication. A police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol. Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman. He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011. The New Orleans District Attorney announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped on May 5, 2011.