Nicolas Cage clears up wild rumours about his life during first chat show appearance in 14 years
Nicolas Cage has finally addressed various wild rumours about his life.
Strange stories have surrounded Cage for years. One is that he won $200,000 (£155,000) gambling in one night and donated it to an orphanage while another is that he once owned a two-headed snake.
Chat show host Jimmy Kimmel was keen to ask Cage about these wacky stories in the actor’s first talk show appearance in 14 years, where he appeared to promote his upcoming film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Wednesday (20 April), the Leaving Las Vegas star says that he didn’t win $200,000, but $20,000 (£15,500) playing roulette at the Atlantis hotel in the Bahamas.
Cage said that he approached the table feeling lucky. “It was one of those nights where you feel like the mojo is with you and you knew you could just do nothing wrong,” he told Kimmel.
“I just knew I had it. Every number I chose – and I often would choose the same number – it kept winning. Even the women who was spinning the ball said ‘nothing sweeter than a repeater’,” Cage said.
Deciding not to waste the special moment, Cage then found an orphanage and gave his winnings to the headmistress in cash. He admitted to Kimmel that he hasn’t gambled since “because it would ruin the magic of that night”.
Kimmel continued to probe Cave on other rumours, including whether he had a two-headed snake (yes), whether he spent the night in Dracula’s castle (yes), whether he was stalked by mimes (yes), and whether he purchased a bat cave (no).
On the two-headed snake, Cage said: “Does that make me impossibly strange, that I had a two-headed snake? I did, and it’s weird.”
He reluctantly admitted that the unusual pet cost around “four times the amount” of money he gave to the orphanage – which would be a whopping $80,000 (£62,000). Cage eventually gave the snake to a zoo because the two heads kept fighting and “it just got a little too freaky for me”.
Cage now has a new strange pet: an African pied crow with feathers like a tuxedo that says hello and goodbye when Cage enters and leaves a room.
“I didn’t teach him the words,” Cage admitted. “He just came with the vocabulary. Then, one day, he called me an A-hole. I don’t know why – it just came out.”
On the bat cave, Cage explained that he “had an interest in exploring all the elements” and toyed with purchasing a cave so that he could “explore earth”, having explored water by diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
While filming one of the National Treasure films in North Dakota, Cage heard of a cave for sale and considered buying it. “It was beautiful,” he told Kimmel. “All these stalactites and milky quartz crystalline walls.”
Cage imagined himself sitting in the cave, “totally naked” and drinking nigori with his wife. However, Cage never purchased the cave. “And there were no bats in the cave,” Cage clarified.
