Well, this is replacing the other Nic Cage in my nightmares.
Back in February, Nic Cage gave some awesome interviews to promote Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. In one interview (video here) he described how he based his performance on his pet cobra, because of course he has a pet cobra. Nic Cage’s interview with with Opie and Anthony was also full of gems. Here’s just one of the things he said:
In order to believe I was the character on some level and not feel completely absurd, I would paint my face to have skull makeup. So I’d use black and white paint. I would black out my eyes so you’d see no white, no pupil, with black contact lenses. I would walk on the set looking like that, and I wouldn’t say a word to anybody. So it was just very uncomfortable for everybody, and that made it so like I didn’t have to act because I could see the fear in their eyes, and then it was just like oxygen to a forest fire, where I just believed I was the Spirit of Vengeance. [Transcribed by Gamma Squad, emphasis ours]
We were worried the footage of Nic Cage wearing face paint and black contact lenses he brought from home would never be released. Good (good?) news, everyone. This nightmare fuel of Nic Cage believing he’s the Spirit of Vengeance made it into the recently-released DVD’s deleted scenes. There’s only one face-painted scene which starts at 1:45 below, and you can really see him channeling his pet cobra in this. The rest of the 11-minute video is just Nic Cage being Nic Cage and Ciarán Hinds rivaling Cage in creepiness.
I’d like to believe the guy who says, “Don’t look him in the eyes!” didn’t know the camera was rolling.
[Hat tip and ALL THE BEES to CBM.]