Nicolas Cage teased in a recent interview with Uproxx that he is seriously considering retiring from film acting. The Oscar winner has appeared in well over 100 movies over the course of his career and thinks he has “pretty much said what I’ve had to say with cinema.” He noted he has signed offers already to make some more movies (“I have other contracts that I have to fulfill”), but those might be the end of Cage on the big screen. He doesn’t plan to give up acting entirely, but a transition into theater and/or television sounds likely.
“I feel that I’ve, at this point – after 45 years of doing this; that in over 100 movies – I feel I’ve pretty much said what I’ve had to say with cinema. And I’d like to leave on a high note and say, ‘Adios,'” Cage said. “I think I have to do maybe three or four more movies before I can get there, and then hopefully switch formats and go into some other way of expressing my acting.”
“I would’ve liked to have left on a high note, like ‘Dream Scenario.’ But I have other contracts that I have to fulfill, so we’ll see what happens,” he continued. “I am going to be very severe and very astringent on the selection process moving forward. But for me to do another movie, I do want to explore other formats.”
Cage said he is “very interested in immersion streaming with episodic television,” adding, “I have seen things that can be done now with characters and the time they’re given to express themselves. I saw Bryan Cranston stare at a suitcase for an hour on one episode of ‘Breaking Bad.’ We don’t have time to do that in a feature film, so maybe television is the next best step for me. We’ll see.”
When Uproxx asked if “Dream Scenario,” Cage’s A24 dark comedy now playing in theaters, would be the actor’s “last movie” if it were up to him, the actor responded: “I would say, ‘Adios.’ I did what I had to do with cinema and I want to move on now. But I’m not there yet, but hopefully I will be. We’ll see.”
Also factoring into Cage’s decision to retire from film acting is his family.
“I’m going to be 60 next month and my dad died at 75. So it’s like, if I’m lucky, I have more years than he did, but I don’t know,” Cage said. “And so what am I going to do with my next 15 years? Well, what’s important? What’s important is my children and I have a baby daughter. And if I can find an episodic show to do that stays in one place where I don’t have to keep leaving, we can all be together. That, on a personal level, would be great. But also I’m a student and I don’t know if I have anything else to learn in cinema. I might have something to learn in television.”
Cage has appeared in several movies in 2023, from “Dream Scenario” to “Renfield” and “The Retirement Plan.” His upcoming releases include Oz Perkins’ horror movie “Longlegs” opposite Maika Monroe.
