This actor, who belongs to one of Hollywoodâs most famous dynasties, is a National Treasure but in his personal life, heâs trapped in a âquiet, horrible nightmare.â
The Family Man actor, who once bought a seat on a plane for his childâs imaginary friend, is now living in a âhostile environmentâ created by his sonâs ex-wife, whoâs preventing him from meeting his four-year-old twin granddaughters.
Keep reading to learn the identity of the star whose name change was inspired by a superhero!
When this actor was only 15, he was seated in a car with his uncle, one of Hollywoodâs leading filmmakers, and begged him for a chance to appear in one of his award-winning films.
âGive me a screen test, Iâll show you acting. There was just silence in the car,â said the star, whoâs proudly bizarre both on and off screen.
As a 17-year-old, the actor paved his own path to stardom and earned a minor role in the 1982 hit, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a coming-of age cult favorite.
âI was the brunt of jokes because my name was still Coppola,â says Nicholas Cage, who was born in 1962 as Nicholas Kim Coppola.
âPeople would not stop saying things like, âI love the smell of Nicolas in the morning,â because of Apocalypse NowâŚand it made it hard to work and I said, âI donât need this,â and changed it to Cage,â the star explains of dropping the surname that connected him to his famous relative, Francis Ford Coppola.
Next, explaining why he chose Cage, he says, âItâs a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel comics, who was a character I liked, also named Power Man, and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. Speaks volumes about everything Iâve been up to ever since.â
His first starring role with Cage as his last name came in 1983âs Valley Girl and the anonymity he said made him feel as if he âhad this weight come off my body.â
âWow, I really can do this. And I felt liberated by that experience,â he tells Hollywood reporter. âAnd you can see it in Valley Girl that Iâm free. Whereas in Fast Times, or even Rumble Fish, Iâm somewhat stuck,â he says, referring to his appearance in 1983âs Rumble Fish, a film directed by his uncle.
Over the next several years, Cage worked in back-to-back films, earning the reputation as one of Hollywoodâs most sought-after actors.
In 1988, he earned Golden Globe nominations for Moonstruck with Cher and Honeymoon in Vegas with Sarah Jessica Parker.
It was also the same year he met actor Christina Fulton, who in December 1990 gave birth to his first son, Weston Coppola Cage, an actor who appeared as the younger version of his dad in the 2014 film Rage.
Cage, who earned an Oscar for his 1995 role in Leaving Las Vegas, also shares a son Kal-El (Supermanâs birth name) born in 2005 with his third wife Alice Kim, and daughter August Francesca (born 2022) with his fifth wife, Riko Shibata.
Cage was also famously married to Patricia Arquette (1995 to 2001) and Lisa Marie Presley (2002), whom he filed for divorce only months later.
Speaking with People, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent actor says that family comes âfirst and foremost.â
âThereâs no version of Nick Cage in reality that doesnât want to spend time with his childrenâŚThereâs no version of Nick Cage that didnât put family first over career,â says the star of Raising Arizona.
He adds, âI turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didnât want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, thatâs a fact.â
Offering evidence to that, actor Minnie Driver once said: âWas once on a plane with [Nicholas Cage] and his son and a seat had also been purchased for his sonâs imaginary friend.â
Weston Coppola Cage
To this day the Adaptation star has a very tight bond with his children, and two of his grandchildren, Lucian (born 2014) and Sorin (2016), who Weston shares with his second wife.
âHe can do things I dream about doingâŚcompose music, sing, act, sculpt and cook and now he is a loving father,â Cage said of Weston, the former lead of two heavy metal bands. âTo see my son with my grandson is as close to a sense of blissful completion I ever had.â
The D-Day star, 33, has been married three times and also shares twin daughters, Cyress and Venice, who were born in 2020 with his third ex-wife, Hila Arounian.
But the kids donât know any members of their famous Hollywood family.
Following an ugly divorce in 2021, TMZ reports that Hila was granted âsole legal and physical custody of their twin daughtersâŚwith Weston getting no visitation rights.â
Explaining the distressing details, Westonâs mom Christina tells the U.S. Sun, that Hila has created a âhostile environment,â which includes âa request for a restraining order against her seeing the kids that was dismissedâ in 2023.
âAs a classy, respectful Hollywood family we are appalled and shocked at how Hila could do something like this. It is devastating not to see these kids. Nicolas and I havenât been able to meet our two beautiful little granddaughters at all since they were born,â Christina says of the âsmear campaignâ Hila launched against her family. âWeâre in a quiet, horrible nightmare. Itâs insane, painful, hurtful, devastating. I have a beautiful relationship with my two little boy grandchildren and my son has a beautiful relationship with his boys.â
Christina adds, âNot meeting the girls is painful, hurtful, and shocking.â
Defending herself, Hila shares a note on Facebook, explaining that her ex cheated several times and was âweaponizing influence, wealth,â turning âthe legal system againstâ her.
She also calls Christina a âsabotaging motherâ and referring to Westonâs mental illness along with addictions, she says that Cage is an âenabling fatherâ who âconsistently hindered his progress.â
Hila does not mention anything about denying the family visitation with the twins, only that Westonâs âbehavior became a physical threat to our daughters and me, as well as our emotional well-being.â
Christina reveals the Cage/Coppola family isnât backing down:Â âIn these trying times, our familyâs resilience is tested. But we remain committed to overcoming these challenges and restoring our familyâs harmony.â
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