Nicolas Cage explains why he turned down LOTR & Matrix movie roles

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent actor Nicolas Cage has explained why he turned down roles in The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. Cage is one of the biggest legends of Hollywood stardom, and his newest film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, stands as somewhat of a tribute to his very diverse career.

The film, helmed by Tom Gormican, follows Cage as he plays a cash-strapped version of himself who decides to make a paid appearance at a billionaire mega-fan’s (Pedro Pascal) birthday party. When it turns out that the billionaire is actually a drug kingpin, both the situation and the Cage movie references get out of hand quickly. While The Unbearable Wight of Massive Talent is set to release on April 22, the film has already received a great deal of praise from its early reviews.

Much of Cage’s allure as an actor is in his tendency to seemingly accept any role that comes his way. Over the actor’s long career, he has taken on roles in such a variety of movies ranging in genre and quality that it is hard to nail down a specific acting style that he can be identified by. Cage has turned in some incredible performances over his career, as well as his fair share of mind-boggling ones, making his only recurring quality his unpredictability.

With Cage’s apparent inability to say no to any role being a common perception amongst fans, it may surprise many moviegoers to find out that the actor actually turned down roles in two of the world’s most successful movie franchises, The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix.

In a recent interview with People, Cage has revealed exactly why he decided to turn down roles in both The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. While the version of Cage in Massive Talent is looking for the next film to reboot his acting career, the real Cage always puts his family first. Cage has stated that there is no version of him “that didn’t put family first over career.” For Cage, the fact that The Lord of the Rings would have relocated him away from his family to New Zealand for three years, and The Matrix would have done the same but to Australia, was not worth the experience of being in these movies. See his full quote below:

“First and foremost … there’s no version of Nic Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children. There’s no version of Nic Cage that didn’t put family first over career. I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”

Cage’s reasons for not joining such successful franchises are certainly commendable. Cage’s son Weston would have only been nine years old at the time The Lord of the Rings began filming. This would certainly be an age that would be hard for a child to be away from their parent for three whole years and Cage was rightfully concerned about this. Ultimately, it was the right decision, as Cage is lucky enough to have a good relationship with his family, and clearly, his career did not suffer one bit. Still, one can’t help but wonder who Cage would have played in these movies and what kind of performance he would’ve turned in. It certainly would’ve altered the trajectory of each franchise, and Cage’s career, if he had starred in either of these movies.

It’s no wonder why Cage has stated that playing himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was one of the hardest roles he’s ever had to take on. He essentially has to realistically play a version of himself with very different values. While Cage in the Massive Talent trailer seems to be someone with a nihilistic outlook on life, the real Cage is a family man and is happy with his career the way it is. Despite not appearing in The Lord of the Rings or The Matrix, Cage’s career is certainly one to be celebrated and fans can do this by going to see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent when it opens later this week.

Source: screenrant.com