Nicolas Cage Picks His Favorite ‘Nic Cage Movie’ & It’s Not One You’d Expect

Nicolas Cage, the acclaimed Hollywood actor who has indulged in every kind of role there is, has appeared in more than 100 films in his entire career. And contrary to what you may think, if he has to pick one for you to choose, it isn’t the one for which he won an Oscar. It also isn’t the one that shot him to stardom or the one that he’s most famous for. It is actually one of his more recent performances, a highlight in what can only be called the redeeming stage of his career. The actor, whose latest role in NEON’s Longlegswill make him unrecognizable, according to director Osgood Perkins, recently sat down with The New Yorker, where he was asked the very difficult question of which film people should see if they have never seen a Nicolas Cage film.

Cage chose Michael Sarnoski’s culinary drama thriller Pig. The film tells the story of a lonesome man who lives alone in the wild with his truffle-hunting pig. When his beloved pig gets kidnapped, Rob goes on the hunt for the men responsible for the abduction, with audiences slowly finding out about his past and why he ended up a hermit. For Cage, this is his favorite movie in his extensive back catalog.

“Pig. Yes. And it’s something that I think people can get something out of, because tragedy is going to hit all of us at some point. It’s just a matter of when. It’s also a movie that to me is like a folk song. It’s a very quiet, gentle movie, which is the opposite of what we started our conversation with—people thinking I’m crazy.”

In the same article, the actor confirms that he chose the recent film as he believes the craft of acting has changed for him.

“I think [acting] now is —for me, anyway— more interesting, and it’s more personal.

I’m making the movies I want to make—or I was making the movies I wanted to make. I don’t know where it’s going. I’d like to leave on a high note, and I’ll try something else. But I think that I’ve been trying to find ways, short of writing my own script and directing my own movie, to make the characters as personal as possible, and to bring my own life experience and my own library of emotion and memories to it. Find stories that I think are personal to me that I can hopefully not have to act too much.”

Pig was written and directed by Michael Sarnoski in his feature directorial debut. The acclaim was instant, with the film holding a solid 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics citing it as the much-deserved comeback of the Nic Cage that has won awards in the past. Since then, it’s been called Cage’s greatest performance.

The Divisive But Fascinating Career of Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage’s career began in the early 1980s when he appeared in films like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Valley Girl. Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew was quick to lose the connection of his last name and decided to build a career for himself. Roles in Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and Peggy Sue Got Married proved he was more than just a heartthrob. In 1995, he showed up in Mike Figgis’ drama Leaving Las Vegas, a role for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor. What followed was more than noteworthy.

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Cage starred in blockbusters like The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, Gone in 60 Seconds, and City of Angels. He was the go-to actor for any kind of genre, with Martin Scorsese picking him for the gloomy drama Bringing Out the Dead. However, in the following years, his career took a bit of a stumble amid noteworthy performances (he was nominated for an Academy Award for Adaptation). Cage seemed to have no issues with choosing straight-to-video movies that didn’t necessarily require his best acting skills, and people began to look down on the actor. Things took a turn when, in 2018, Cage starred in Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy, a horror movie that knew how best to utilize Cage’s multifaceted nature.

Today, Cage seems to be enjoying the latter part of his career, with his performance in 2023’s Dream Scenario leading to his name landing in the ballots at the Golden Globes.