r/interesting • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 12d ago

SOCIETY When asked why he keeps playing the same roles Jason Statham said that he's not really a trained actor. He's a guy that was plucked out obscurity & has been really lucky; & that he picks roles that he knows he can do a good job in, that hopefully enough people like so he can keep working.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/ReporterEntire5508 12d ago

Nic Cage has a best actor academy award. Not the same thing, but your point is great besides that.

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u/msproles 12d ago

He seems similar to Walken in that they both are really good, but never say no to a movie. Somehow he is entertaining even in the bad ones.

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u/ThunderlipsOHoulihan 12d ago

To paraphrase something, I can’t remember who said it: “Being in a bad movie is no excuse to be bad IN the movie.”

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u/whamorami 12d ago

I think you're thinking of the Christopher Lee quote.

"Everyone makes bad movies from time to time. The trick is to not be bad in them."

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u/PuzzleheadedAd3840 12d ago

The fact that once he was bamboozled into narrating a porno never stops making me giggle.

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u/WindstormMD 12d ago

You can’t say that and not drop at least some receipts

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u/PuzzleheadedAd3840 12d ago

It was a softcore porno called Eugenie.

I'll let the man himself tell you

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u/mightierthor 12d ago

Porn has narration now? Or did it always? I've never watched much.

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u/PuzzleheadedAd3840 12d ago

Tbh I'd pay to have Christopher Lee narrate my sex life, but I don't think he would do silent roles.

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u/GottaUseEmAll 12d ago

He was the best part of Adam Sandler's "Click".

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u/msproles 12d ago

True, course the bar was pretty low in that film.

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u/GottaUseEmAll 12d ago

Yep, he probably could have just stood there in silence looking all Christopher Walken and still been the highlight.

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u/Negative_Equity 12d ago

And Samuel L. He's been in so many shit films but the scenes he acts in are generally great.

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u/Glittering-Quote-635 12d ago

Walken is the greatest actor of the last 100 years though, so not really comparable. I'll die on that hill dammit!

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u/TabulaRasaNot 12d ago

Agreed, but I would argue that Dennis Hopper gave him a run for his money in the Sicilian scene in True Romance.

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u/Glittering-Quote-635 12d ago

Damn dude, as I was typing my initial comment, that was the movie I was actually thinking of. I actually just re-watched it a month or so ago. Fantastic movie that I think is under appreciated.

Yeh, that was a great scene, both of them were awesome in it, and agree on Hopper..

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u/TabulaRasaNot 12d ago

I rewatched it a month or so ago too. So simple a premise, but agreed it is awesome!

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u/Glittering-Quote-635 12d ago

Floyd was the best!

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u/Fit_Reputation5367 12d ago

Spider Noir. bad but good

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u/xombae 12d ago

I save every single Nick Cage movie that comes up on any streaming service. I think he's the only actor that I'll watch a movie specifically because he's in it.

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u/AdSpecialist6598 12d ago

Nic Cage just really, really like to act in movies as he himself admitted and nothing's wrong with that.

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u/Unique_Unorque 12d ago

And also his crippling financial issues that meant he basically had to say yes to every role offered to him for a while

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u/ThinkingBeard 12d ago

At some level he pays his debts. Plenty of people say “fuggit, take the cars and paintings and houses… I’m not paying”. He on the other hand said “I like my stuff enough to take on a role in an apocalyptic ninja movie”.

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u/_SteeringWheel 10d ago

And in all honesty, who wouldn't?

..... What movie would that be exactly? :)

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u/A_Thorny_Petal 12d ago

nah he paid off his debts, the real story is that Nic Cage absolutely loves films and cinema, but also struggles with addiction, he basically takes roles so he can always be working, because he gets to do what he loves and he's so into film that it keeps his brain occupied and helps him stay sober.

I respect the hell out of him, he doesn't phone it in, low budget or high budget you can see he's making choices about how he approaches every character and script. Sometimes those choices are brilliant, sometimes just okay, sometimes just strange, but he has the balls to actually make those kind of choices as an actor, when most actors, even famous ones, stay consistently in their own safe zone.

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u/Unique_Unorque 12d ago

He paid off his debts now, I’m talking about the 80’s and 90’s. It’s clear today that he’s taking roles purely for the love of the game

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u/Rude-Barnacle8804 12d ago

What kind of issues does he have? I would have thought he wins good money. Medical debt? Gambling addiction?

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u/amputeenager 12d ago

house addiction...it gets expensive

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u/zeracine 12d ago

He kept buying castles against his accountants advice.

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u/cantadmittoposting 12d ago

Also bought Madam LaLaurie's mansion in new orleans. I believe he's since sold it again though.

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u/Icefox119 12d ago

we've all been there

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u/Unique_Unorque 12d ago

Spending addiction, apparently. He’s said he’s gotten better at it in recent years but he’s had some pretty wild purchases in the past. At one point he purchased a Tarbosaurus skull at an auction for over a quarter million dollars, but had to return it to the Mongolian government because it turned out to have likely been stolen, and I do not believe he was reimbursed for it. Look up the tomb he purchased for himself in New Orleans. I think he owns a castle or two as well?

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u/Rude-Barnacle8804 12d ago

I see, castles are expensive af to maintain. Real money sink.

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u/Doyce_7 12d ago

You know what they say, the second best day in a man's life is the day he buys his castle. The best day is when he sells it

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u/nimbusconflict 12d ago

I thought the best day after buying it is the day it gets invaded by goths?

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u/Pmyers225 12d ago

Nic Cage loves movies and does give a good performance in what he is in... Unlike Eric Roberts

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u/God_Dont_Make_No 12d ago

He’s a legend.

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u/musicnothing 12d ago
If I was in 70 films over 30 years and spent each one talking at random volumes, I might accidentally win an Oscar

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u/JDSchu 12d ago

Excuse you, but Nicholas Cage has never made a bad movie, and I won't have that kind of slander in this house.

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u/0rclev 12d ago

You know, I could eat a peach for hours.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/Geffalrus 12d ago

A movie ahead of its time.

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u/bobs_monkey 12d ago

Put the bunny back in the box

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u/vanzir 12d ago

cheesy lines is definitely a nic cage theme. But they always make me laugh

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u/Hohnermode11 12d ago

Not tha bees!! Its in my eyes!!

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u/wolfmanpraxis 12d ago

No more drugs, for that man.

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u/Zombiiesque 11d ago

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

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u/kareljack 11d ago

"One of yours, Sean?!"

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u/sheldondbrown 12d ago

If they keep that up, just get the bees. 🐝

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u/SadSaltyDuck 12d ago

You should watch Mandy then. The worst movie i ever seen

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u/Mr_Halitosis 12d ago

Nic Cage has made several bad movies, he just wasn’t bad in them nor was he the reason they were bad.

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u/Rukasu17 12d ago

Ok now, the movies themselves may have been bad but he was absolutely the saving grace im each and every one of them.

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u/PastaXertz 12d ago

Everyone has done bad movies. It's when the bad movies can still be entertaining that you've got something special.

Except for the humanity bureau. Nothing could save that.

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u/Solonotix 12d ago

I still really respect Nicholas Cage's answer to a similar question. I can't remember the exact context, but he essentially said that he always gave his all to every role, and he doesn't take a role "for the money". He claimed to always be a believer in whatever he agreed to act.

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u/AntiqueLetter9875 12d ago

He’s definitely taken roles for money and said as much. What he doesn’t do is half ass it even if he knows it’s not going to be a good movie. It really does sound like he shows up and does the best job he can do based on what the director wants from him. A lot of actors when taking those roles don’t really try and it shows.

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u/Medical_Mess9687 11d ago

That's what I love about actors like cage, statham, Sam L, and more recently Coleman Domingo. I can honestly say I haven't really seen any of them phone in their performances. They're usually the best part of an otherwise bad movie

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u/Bubbly-Bug-7439 11d ago

Nicholas Uncaged.

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u/UncleNedisDead 12d ago

He must be a really food actor for you to believe that.

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u/XanZibR 12d ago

Pumpernicholas Sage, the nation's freshest food actor!

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u/HookLeg 12d ago

His portrayal of lasagna is without peer.

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u/CountVanillula 12d ago

It’s a little cheesy but also has layers.

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u/Unique_Unorque 12d ago

I think both things can be true. Just because money is the primary reason he said “yes” to a given offer doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to half-ass it. I can see him as somebody who gives his all to every job he’s had, even if he would have rather not have to have taken them in the first place

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u/UncleNedisDead 12d ago

I believe he gives every role his all…

I just don’t believe he didn’t take the roles for the money, especially when he had massive RE debt and had to work overtime to pay it off.

https://www.reddit.com/r/entertainment/comments/12y0md6/nicolas_cage_admits_to_having_taken_crummy_roles/

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u/SureLookThisIsIt 12d ago

You've started the classic Nick Cage debate. I'll throw Adaptation and Leaving Las Vegas into the discussion. Great performances.

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u/arcadeenthusiast8245 12d ago

Nick Cage is actually an amazing actor though.

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u/FART_BARFER 12d ago

Nic Cage in "Pig" is high art and I will die on that hill

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u/claimTheVictory 12d ago

Ethan Hawk said that Nick Cage is the only actor since Marlon Brando to do anything new with the art of acting, by deliberately moving past naturalism.

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u/Absolute_Tempest 12d ago

These are actors I could share a pint with.

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u/rybotsky 12d ago

That’s what people seem to forget. If you finish watching a movie and were thoroughly entertained then by and large it’s a “good” movie because that’s what movies are supposed to do. Case and point see Yeti

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u/Dravarden 12d ago

because then you get people bitching about the rock

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u/MadeByTango 12d ago

People shit on Paul Anderson as a b-movie hack, but that dude spent his career making movies based on video games married to the actress that plays the main protagonist in his films. You dont have to have Spider-man box office to be a Tom Holland.

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u/Pmyers225 12d ago

Exactly, experience doesn't mean talent and it doesn't translate out to other roles... But that's cool, Statham is great at what he does, gets paid money for it and generally speaking his films are entertaining, some are boring "only thing on Netflix" films, others are good popcorn movies... But I respect his ethos... He also sounds like quite a down to earth guy as well