In a movie that stars Nicolas Cage as Nick Cage, and features all kinds of throwbacks to various Nicolas Cages of movies past, you expect things to get weird. But there’s getting weird, and there’s getting weird on a level where Nicolas Cage makes out with a younger version of Nicolas Cage. It’s the kind of wild idea that only could have come from Nicolas Cage himself – and you can see it play out in his new film The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent in just a few days time.
“That was actually just a peck on the cheek, as scripted,” the film’s co-writer and director Tom Gormican tells Empire. “Nic came in and was like, ‘I think I would really like to French-kiss myself.’” Gormican’s fellow co-writer Kevin Etten was equally thrilled by Cage’s idea to level the scene up. “I just died,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh, my god, yes. Please.’ Never in a million years would I have gone there in my head. But it was such a great idea. It was so funny.”
For Cage, it was a way to sum up the film’s entire self-reflective concept – Nicolas Cage attends a billionaire mega-fan’s birthday, but turns CIA informant when it turns out the fan (played by Pedro Pascal) is a drug kingpin – in a single scene. “It was like, ‘This is such a symbolic microcosm of everything that is happening to me right now,’” Cage explains to Empire. “Because I’m making a movie where I’m playing myself. Which is effectively kissing myself. I’m making out with myself. And that’s exactly what’s going on. Anyone that understands symbolism knows what I’m doing there. It’s the ouroboros – the snake eating its own tail.” Get ready to update your ‘maddest Nicolas Cage movie moments’ lists, everyone.
Read Empire’s full feature on the making of The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent in the Jurassic World Dominionissue – on sale Thursday 14 April, and available to pre-order online here. The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent comes to UK cinemas from 22 April.