| By Fred Topel
In Theaters October 28
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The Weatherman is another awkward role for Nicolas Cage. This time, there are no nervous tics or profuse sweating. Just a guy who can’t relate well to people. His ex wife is moving on with their children and his father is dying without really caring about their relationship.
Cage could relate to both issues. He was going through his second divorce when he read the script, and the father thing is universal. “I think that no matter what walk of life or who we are, we all have that connection with our father because we are small and they are big and there’s this awesome regard for dad,” Cage said. “On top of that, my dad is a professor of comparative literature and he’s very, very smart so I was always trying to figure out how can I be inspired by him and be him. [I’d] listen to classical music, read classic novels. There was this intimidating aura growing up with a university professor so I used my own feelings about my own father [in the movie].”
Fortunately, Cage’s father was more supportive of him, even though Cage did not follow in his father’s footsteps. Even though Cage did not finish formal high school, the professor accepted his decision.
“My father had that aura about him as a highly regarded professor of literature. There was a lot to live up to. He had a PhD. But what I will say about my dad, which you might find out of character, I’m going to go on record here now and say I’m not a high school drop out. That did not happen. I was not a great match for high school. I went to my father and said, ‘Dad, I can’t. This isn’t me. I want to act. I want to work. This isn’t right for me. It’s affecting my self-esteem. I gotta get out.’ Instead of pushing me, he said, ‘You know what? That’s fine. Just get the equivalency’. So I studied. I got the GED. I got a diploma and I left and went right to work. The reason why I bring that up is for somebody who had a history in education and a life in education, he also was frustrated with the educational system in pursuing my goals.”
Michael Caine plays Cage’s father in the film, which added another layer to the mentor issue as Caine has given one of the definitive courses in acting. “It’s always fascinating to work with the best in the field and Michael Caine, to me, has always been among the best in film acting. So, I was exhilarated. It was a wonderful opportunity to study him, to look at his very seasoned approach to film acting. That whole thing he did [in his lessons] where he’s talking about looking at the right eye and the left eye, I was watching him. There were moments when he actually would do that. I’m like, ‘Wow, Michael Caine just did that thing that I saw him teach about on that video!’ I was ecstatic to work with him. He also was friendly which was an added bonus.”
Other areas in which Cage shares characteristics with his character include keeping very little cash in his wallet. However, he’s never unprepared like The Weatherman because he plans ahead. “I just went to the market and I bought about twenty packages of Gillette Mach Three shavers so I don’t have to go to the market again. I buy in bulk. That way I can stay at home. I used one this morning.”
He also picked up archery, which becomes The Weatherman’s hobby, for the film. “There aren’t too many things that I will come out and say I’m a natural at and there’s only one thing that I knew I was. When I started doing archery, that was the first time I really found something besides acting that I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this.’ The archery in that movie was mine. I did all that . I’m happy to say that. I really enjoyed it. I’d like to continue doing it when I get some time. There was one shot where Gore [Verbinski] goes, ‘Get the arrow a little closer to the camera.’ There was this scene in the snow where I’m drawing down on my nemesis and we had to get the arrow really close to the camera and the arrow went right through the matte box and Gore kept it. I’m very happy about that.”
Cage cannot relate to having food and drinks hurled at him by fans, though shooting those scenes gave him a unique relationship with director Verbinski. “There are some photographs of him throwing the Chicken McNuggets at my head. He’s really got this follow-through with his arm. He’s got a good arm. He’s a good pitcher but, yeah, he was doing it. I think he did enjoy it. He made sure, every time, it was him.”
The Weatherman is Cage’s third movie released within a year. He continues to work at a breakneck pace, with several more films scheduled for release in 2006. “I do about two movies a year. It works out that way. I have two movies coming out each year. To me, that’s not too much but, on top of that, I like to work. It’s part of my spiritual beliefs. I like to do something with my time that is productive. I want to serve and I feel I’m serving myself and I’m serving you by working. I’m not going to just sit around by the pool and luxuriate myself with a margarita. That, to me, is not where I want to be so yeah, work is part of my principles.”
That said, he has learned from The Weatherman that a great job is not enough to make one happy. “It’s the age-old adage, isn’t it? You’re not going to find happiness in material things. They will make things easier but there is always going to be that nagging feeling inside that there’s something else and I wrestle with that every day. I’m always struggling between the spiritual and material.”
The Weatherman opens October 28. |
