Nicolas Cage sure chose a funny time to be particular and fussy about his roles.
Was it working with Werner Herzog that did it because it’s not like his track record with choosing roles has been spectacular this decade outside of things like “Adaptation,” “Matchstick Men,” and maybe “The Weather Man,” (that’s still like 3 out of 21-s0me projects).
Apparently he has no qualms about working on “National Treasure” McFranchises but backed out of working with Michel Gondry on “The Green Hornet” that Seth Rogen wrote because he felt the villain character he was in talks to play was underdeveloped and shooting was occurring so soon, they just didn’t have time to flesh out the role.
” ‘Green Hornet’ was something I wanted to do. I think Michel Gondry is very talented and I had hoped it would work. But I think Seth Rogen and Michel had a different direction for the character tonally than the way I wanted to go,” he told the Toronto Sun. “I wasn’t interested in just being a straight-up bad guy who was killing people willy-nilly. I had to have some humanity and try to give it something where you could understand why the character was the way he was. But there wasn’t enough time to develop it.”
Uhh, welcome to the role Christoph Waltz? It doesn’t help that Cage says, despite once vying for “Superman” and starring as “Ghost Rider,” he evidently does not want to portray superheroes anymore.
“I think that’s out of my system now,” he said of playing superhero characters, villains or heroes. “Recently, I’ve made decisions that were tough decisions, made on my own personal beliefs. If I were to go against my own beliefs I couldn’t go on.”
Oh, so now it’s quality control all of a sudden? Hmm, tell that to the makers of the 3D revenge actioner called, “Drive Angry,” and another, an underground vigilante revenge film (gee, original) called, ‘The Hungry Rabbit Jumps“? Oh wait, you’re already signed up for those pay days, nevermind.
Ooof, and as a keen reader points out, Nicolas Cage evidently owes the IRS around $6.6 million dollars in unpaid taxes. Better enjoy those principles while they lasted Nick, we see a “National Treasure” four, five and six in your very near future.
