WEBVTT - Stealing Superman: Episode Five — Now a Major Motion Picture 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:07.960 Nick Cage is in a Superman costume. It's not for Halloween, 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:10.880 and it's not just because he feels like it. It's 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:16.280 because in Cage is set to star in Superman Lives, 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.520 the first new live action Superman movie in ten years. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.960 It's taken Warner Brothers, which owns DC Comics that long, 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.120 to find the right pairing of star and director to 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.720 bring one of their most valuable assets back to the screen. 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:40.320 Cage will star as the Man of Steel. Tim Burton, 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.160 who ushered in the modern era of comic book movies 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:48.239 in with Batman, will direct their Superman will be a 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.880 bit of an outcast, an alien from another planet who 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:55.920 doesn't quite fit in here, and everyone believes Cage is 0:00:55.960 --> 0:01:00.840 perfect for the role. Cage looks great in the It's 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:04.959 crafted from rubber, like Michael Keaton's Batman costume, to give 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.240 more muscle definition to his already trim physique. His hair 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:13.360 is long and dyed black, reminiscent of Superman's mullet when 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:15.440 he came back from the dead in the comics. Back 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:20.440 In one version of the suit, led lights make it 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.120 light up like a screen at a rave. Cage looks 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.959 in the mirror and seems satisfied with what he sees. 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.119 He's always had an affinity for Superman, for someone who 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.559 tried to conduct himself with dignity and tried to act 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:37.920 with a moral compass. He just spent a hundred and 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.959 fifty thousand dollars on Action Comics number one, and it's 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.520 easy to think he did it in part to feel 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.520 a connection with the mythology. Cage has often spoken about 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:52.120 having talisman, physical objects that can help him get a 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.040 better feel for a role. What could get him in 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:59.080 tune with playing Superman more than possessing the cultural artifact 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.760 of where it all began. In fact, he bought two copies, 0:02:03.200 --> 0:02:06.800 the one in terrific condition that was stolen and a 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:11.079 second one that wasn't quite as well preserved. Some collectors 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.680 call this an under copy. It's sort of like settling 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.120 for the comic you want in an average condition until 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.960 the holy Grail comes along. The under copy is the 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.720 one Cage sold off in his massive public auction in 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.120 two thousand and two. Here's William Hughes, who brokered the sale. 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.040 I thought that one was a restored copy, so it 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.920 might have just been one that he had all along. 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.440 And then he upgraded when he had the opportunity to 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.560 get the nice, high grade copy. That's a frequent occurrence 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.880 in the hobby where you know the higher end buyers, 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.560 they have a lasser copy and in the upgrade when 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:54.680 the opportunity arises. But there are bumpy times ahead. For 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.639 one thing, Cages stand in. A man named Marco Kyus 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.280 didn't have as much luck donning the iconic suit as 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.960 Cage did. I went in for a costume fitting. Unfortunately, 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:07.560 at that point I had gained a lot of weight, 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.240 probably twenty five pounds heavier than Nick, and I was 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.600 kind of bloated looking and said, I think during face 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.680 off around that time, and I went in for a 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.680 fitting and the costume were just staring at me and said, 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:24.920 are you like Alec Baldwin's standing that's Marco. I said no, 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:27.080 I'm in a cage is stand it. And he's like, oh, 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:30.359 how did you get that job? It's like you're really overweight. 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:32.399 I said, yeah, I know at the time you could 0:03:32.400 --> 0:03:34.680 say these things, and I said, yeah, I know, I've 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.720 I've been getting a lot of weight on the film set. 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:40.600 That's when the costume designer had to get creative. The 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:42.720 funny part was they had to roll it up. The 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.200 rubber had to be rolled up over my fat and 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.120 then zip me up, so everything was kind of like 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:51.440 squished inside. It was so embarrassing. I was so out 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:56.160 of shape, and I was so unlikely to be Superman standing. 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.000 It would be a joke. It would be It would 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.800 be a farce. Farce is not a bad way to 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:06.280 describe Cage's Superman a movie project. The movie would soon 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.400 fall by the wayside, and Cage's best version of that comic, 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:14.720 which was procured to celebrate and fuel that role, would 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:19.680 be stolen. But you know all that. What you may 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.800 not know is this wouldn't be the only time Nicholas 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.080 Cage and Superman would be the subjects of a single 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:31.919 feature film. But instead of Cage playing Superman, someone would 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:37.800 be playing Cage, several actors actually, including a woman, and 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.760 the movie wouldn't be about Superman, but about the theft 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:46.080 of Cage's copy of Action Number One, a holy fictional, 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.760 very meta version of the story that was written by 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:57.160 two superstar Hollywood writers, filmed, edited, and never released. No 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:01.120 one's ever seen it. Even it's a rector couldn't get 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.920 a copy. The only thing more mysterious than the fate 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.159 of Cages Action number one is the fate of the 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:13.480 movie about Cages Action number one. Like that famous comic, 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:19.440 it disappeared without a trace. Today we're going to find 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:33.240 out why. For I Heart Radio, this is Stealing Superman. 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.800 I'm your host, Danis Schwartz, and this is episode five 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:44.599 now a major motion picture. The war that comes to 0:05:44.640 --> 0:05:46.440 me is that it was a trip, you know, to 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.280 play someone named Nick Cage and two version as of 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.080 someone named Nick Cage. It was terrifying. I mean I 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.359 had to say that I was actually very nervous to 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.520 go towards this. But I believe that if you're a something, 0:06:00.600 --> 0:06:02.360 if as long as doesn't hurt you or anybody else, 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.600 you should go towards it and you might learn something. 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:13.039 You've probably heard of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.039 It's a film that was released earlier this year and 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:21.200 started Nicolas Cage. As Nicolas Cage, the movie version of 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.280 Cage is at a crossroads in his career, much like 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.080 the real Cage, who fell off the Hollywood A list 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.359 about a decade ago and has been working steadily in 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:35.360 lower budget a fair The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which, 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.560 as fans of the whole brevity thing will call Massive Talent, 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.480 sees a fictionalized version of Cage having that same experience. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.479 He's having an existential crisis and agrees to perform for 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:52.080 a drug dealer at the dealer's birthday party. Chaos ensues, 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.280 and so does a lot of tongue in cheek commentary 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:59.600 on Cage's career. He not only plays himself, but versions 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.520 of him, all at different times in his life. Face 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:07.080 Off Eric Cage, Wild at Heart Eric Cage. The movie 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.400 allowed Cage to seize control of his story back from 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:15.280 snarky Internet commenters who were very preoccupied with his grandiose 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.560 acting choices and some of his b movie roles. Critics 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:24.640 liked Massive Talent. It was quote smart, funny, and wildly creative, 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.440 according to one review, but it wasn't the first time 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.520 Cage had been approached to play himself in a movie. 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:37.080 The initial pitch was, we knew this thing had happened 0:07:37.200 --> 0:07:39.840 where this copy of Action Comments number one went missing 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:43.040 from Cage's house, and like that was the starting premise, 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:44.960 and then the approach to it was like, well, what 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:48.280 if it was this sort of ocean's eleven style heist 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.200 by these sort of like friends who an't hanging around 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.320 a comic book shop where they find out he's got it, 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.640 and they consider themselves Oceans eleven and they're going to 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.880 break in and they're gonna get it and sell it 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.840 and get rich off of it, and they're all at 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:04.600 the that to Alex Fernie. Alex is a director primarily 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.320 of television comedies like Key and Peel and comedy Bang Bang. 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.840 A few years ago, a script landed on his desk. 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:16.000 It was titled Action Number One, and it was another 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:20.920 meta Cage story, but this one was about one very 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:25.320 specific incident in Cage's life, the theft of that rare 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:30.560 comic from his home, and then the approach to Cage 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:34.839 was obviously a very heightened version of him, where he 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.440 becomes this sort of like bad guy antagonist who's trying 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:39.520 to track them down and hires a hitman to kill 0:08:39.559 --> 0:08:42.600 them because they stole his most beloved belonging. So it 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:46.400 really takes that first actual thing to happen, which memory 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.679 serves it was by large. He had a party and 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:50.600 the next day it was just gone, but he didn't 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:52.640 know how long it had been missing him. And turned 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.280 it into this sort of pisty thing where he's the 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.920 anti Garcia from Motions eleven. The script was written by 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.479 Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Grant, a screenwriting team responsible 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:06.960 for some major hits like The Night at the Museum 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:11.240 franchise with Ben Stiller. You've probably seen them too. In 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:14.920 addition to being co creators with Carrie Kenny Silver, Lennon 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:18.679 Grant were actors on Reno nine, one, the cult hit 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:24.199 on Comedy Central about annept Nevada Cops. Lennon played Lieutenant 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:29.520 Jim Dangle, Grant was Deputy Travis Jr. When the two 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.200 heard about Cage's comic book heist, their story Antenna went 0:09:33.280 --> 0:09:37.480 off a famous actor suffering an art theft. Only it 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.480 was a rare comic and not just any actor, but 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:46.600 Nicholas Cage, avowed Superman fan and someone once slated to 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.560 play him. That was a movie premise, so Lennon and 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:55.040 Grant concocted a fictionalized version of the story. They didn't 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.559 need to adhere to facts. Instead, they tell you who 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:01.320 the thieves are right out the game. The script is 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:04.240 from their point of view. It's a group of comic 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:07.760 book collectors who get wind of Cagees priceless comic collection 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:12.000 and the easy access to Action number one. Oh yeah 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:14.240 yeah the second Ben and Tom mentioned me as like, 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.360 I absolutely know that story because it is so nuts, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.400 and I feel like around that same time, when people 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.040 were like passing around the test footage of him a 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.439 superman and stuff, that was all a lot of discussion 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.400 of him and his comic books and stuff would come up, 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:32.160 and then this story was like so perfectly right down 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:35.000 the middle of that perception of him that I very 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.880 much remember it. I think part of what makes it 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:43.960 so interesting, beyond sort of the meanness of Nick Cage, 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.840 is that I think Cage is a incredibly sincere person 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.680 in a time when that is kind of rare. He 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:54.800 likes his things, he likes his weird cripts, he likes 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.200 his comic books. That's who he is and that's what 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:01.200 he likes. That feels more relatable than if it was 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:04.760 like someone stole a two hundred thousand dollar car from 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.079 Matt Damon. That wouldn't be interesting. But this is because 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:13.360 it's so specific both the man and his interests that 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.640 it just feels like another world right, Like it feels 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:21.440 like fiction it's not quite Ocean's Eleven. The thieves are 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:25.040 inept and kind of bumbling. The Cage of the movie 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:28.960 is well, he's even more bombastic than the parodies of 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.319 Cage floating around out There. He hires a hit woman 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.840 to find and assassinate his comic thieves while the team 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.360 tries to ransom the book back to Cage. Lennon and 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.960 Grant were working on the project as far back as 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.240 at the time. They hoped Nicholas Cage would agree to 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:51.560 play himself a very exaggerated, very murdering version of himself, 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.520 and Cage thought about it. He danced around the project 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.839 wondering if parodying his out there persona was a good 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.600 idea or not. When I came on board. Basically, they 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.840 had spent a while chasing Cage trying to get to 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:07.559 do it, and he was thinking about and kind of 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:11.360 like going back and forth. This really isn't as ludicrous 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.240 as it may sound. A while back, there was a 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:18.680 script floating around titled Chad Schmidt, about a struggling actor 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:22.800 who bears an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt. Chad is 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:26.280 forced to watch as his doppelganger, who is portrayed as 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:30.960 a buffoon trips into fame while poor Chad is relegated 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:35.480 to never was status. Brad Pitt was interested in playing 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:38.839 Chad Schmidt, as well as the script's doof as version 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:42.199 of himself, but when they couldn't settle on a director, 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:46.800 it fell by the wayside. Still being John Malkovich, playing 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:52.440 yourself can work, but not for Cage. After circling action 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:55.480 number one, he decided he didn't want to play an 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.200 exaggerated version. For a minute, there was talk of Jason 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.760 Statham being involved. Whether he was going to play Cage 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:06.200 or one of the thieves was unclear, but that also 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:09.760 wound up not happening. That left the production with no 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:13.480 choice but to get inventive. By this point it was 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.800 under the banner of Awesomeness Entertainment, a production company that 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.880 since had phenomenal success with the Netflix franchise To All 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:26.040 the Boys I've Loved Before. Awesomeness recruited Fernie to direct 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.600 the script. All they needed to do was cast someone 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:33.679 to be Nicholas Cage, but that's not easy to do, 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:36.520 so I rewrote My rain Partners a little bit, and 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.959 then it kind of came on at that point to 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.400 direct it and to kind of figure out what we 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.000 going to do about the fact that this movie about 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.719 Nick Cage isn't going to have Nick Cage in it. 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:51.880 So if Cage didn't want to be Cage and no 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:55.920 other actor could step into his shoes, the filmmakers had 0:13:55.960 --> 0:13:59.840 to devise another solution, and it would be an odd 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.400 acious one. There've been all this talk about like should 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:04.360 we just never see Cage? Should it be like a 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.240 Charlie's Angels thing, whereas only ever a voice on a thing, 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:09.679 you always see him from behind stuff. And I didn't 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.280 want to do that at all because that felt to 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:14.880 me like a cheap or like that felt like that 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.640 would be obvious that we couldn't do the thing that 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:19.920 we wanted to do, which was a Nick Cage. And 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:21.920 so then I was like, well, if it's weirder and 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.440 if it's purposeful and we see these scenes where Nick 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:27.760 Cage does show up but it's always a different actor, 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:32.640 that's something we can kind of lean into. The Responsibility 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:37.400 of playing Cage wouldn't fall on one person's shoulders. Four 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:41.480 of them could share the unbearable weight. It was also 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:45.840 a decision that broadcasts the film's intentions. This wasn't going 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.920 to be a gritty true crime tale. It was going 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:53.240 to be light on its feet, fun and hopefully funny. 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:54.680 If we've got the other way, I think we would 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:56.440 have pulled out of most of his scenes and just 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.640 had there be some sort of standing for him, who 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:00.640 isn't him, who works for him or someth thing. But 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:02.480 because we did that, we only kind of worked these 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:07.240 scenes in, and then that kind of impacted when Cage 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.840 shows up in the script, because we wanted to kind 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.760 of space out these different comedy folks who play him 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.160 coming in. But it also gave us ability to have 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.640 the fictional Nick Cage character show up throughout in a 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:21.800 way that didn't feel like, yeah, they're really avoiding the 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:23.920 fact that the person the movie is about isn't in 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:27.600 the movie. According to Alex, Cage was okay with this plan. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:29.840 He decided he didn't want to do it, but gave 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:33.560 his blessing to play the role of Cage. Producers cast 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.360 for people that actors who play him are Rob Hubil 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.280 and Missy Pyle and the Uncle and Rob Cordrey. The 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:43.440 actors would play Cage in different scenes when the script 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.200 called for Cage to make an appearance to play the 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:50.840 comic book Thieves. Jimmy Tetro, Mike Castle, and Haley Magnus 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.280 were cast. Tetro is probably best known now for his 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.480 role on the ABC sitcom Home Economics. In the movie, 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:03.040 Tetro's character, Brian In is a stereo installer who gets 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:07.200 into cages home and notices the action number one. He 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:11.040 convinces his friends to break in and grab the comic, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:17.880 which is just sitting on a coffee table. Alex started 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:22.280 shooting the movie in Vancouver in the fall of and no, 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.760 Vancouver wasn't intended to be a stand in for Los Angeles. 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.560 That was where the production could get the most out 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:34.400 of its budget, So Cage the movie Cage had to relocate. 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.560 It was literally based on where we were able to 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:39.800 because it would have made sense to do New Orleans 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.080 the tax cuts, where we're like, okay, make it work 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:45.800 in Seattle or Vancouver. You can shoot in Vancouver. It's like, Okay, 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:47.800 it's never going to really make sense, but we can 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:49.360 just claim that he has a house here and we 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:53.080 just go from there. And it mostly went off without 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.760 a hitch. The leads had good chemistry. The script was funny, 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.960 and the conceit of Cage being played by different performers 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.440 was definitely going to get the movie some attention. But 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:05.960 it was important that while the movie would have fun 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:10.439 with Cage, it wouldn't make fun of Cage. Yeah, there 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:12.359 was that, and there was like right before we started 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.280 shooting too, there's a bunch of cold feat that like 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:16.920 this was too weird. And then I think once we 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.360 did it it where it talls like, oh, this is fun, 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.040 And I think that's the most fun stuff in the 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.720 movie because everyone knows that, everyone knows his thing and 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:26.520 it's great and everyone likes it, and I think that's 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.040 more fun, like more like I guess, celebratory. When the 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.600 Cage actors would come on set, Alex explained that he 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:38.200 wasn't looking for a Cage impression, more of a Cage essence. 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:41.800 All of the actors who played him, every one of 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.920 them was afraid of it when I first approached them 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:45.560 to do it, because it is such a weird ask 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:47.639 you when come to Vancouver for like a day and 0:17:47.840 --> 0:17:50.399 play Nick Cage, and every one of them I had 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.919 to kind of walk through, like we're not looking for 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:56.399 a very authentic, accurate impression when I have been look 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:58.320 for impression and all we just want people to kind 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.679 of play what you think his ibe is, what his 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.879 energy is, in whatever way that means to you. And 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.840 all four of them are recognizably Nick Cage, but do 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:10.480 it in very different ways, which I think is very cool. 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:12.399 But they were all at first kind of like what 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.240 what is what is this? Like I'm not an impression 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:16.640 this to be, Like no, no, you don't have to be, 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.360 especially when it's like Missy Pyle coming up being like 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:22.479 you brought me up to play this man for this 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:24.960 one scene, like yeah, okay, I'll talk you through it. 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:27.000 And then everyone got it and they were all very fun. 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:32.480 After shooting, Fernie edited the film. It was scored in 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:35.240 today's streaming landscape, it didn't seem like there would be 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.600 much of an issue finding a home. They all needed content, 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:42.879 especially during a pending pandemic when productions were being shut 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.000 down left and right. And then we kind of wrapped 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:48.399 up the post. I had hoped for some reshoots and 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:50.560 some other stuff that ended up falling apart. We probably 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.520 should have been the first time, but it right at 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:54.399 the end of that there was a conversation I had 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.800 had with some of the Awesomeness people, and they were 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:58.520 excited about it, and they're talking a where they're going 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:00.200 to do it. And then I never talked to people 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.200 a get because they all left the company, and I 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.359 don't think I ever had another conversation with someone at 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.360 the Dust Company. Again, it's like we sent it in 0:19:07.280 --> 0:19:09.639 not even really acknowledgement of it, and then it just 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:13.479 like literally disappeared. And it went from being like, this 0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:15.720 is really fun, we'll get this out there, We've got 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.480 some plans, we'll keep talking about it too, we're all quitting, 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:20.600 we're all going to start our own companies, and then 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:24.080 just dead silence for at this point now five years. 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.160 It's not as though Cage had ever had particularly good 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.560 luck with Superman movies. At the height of his box 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.879 office stature in the late nine nineties, he agreed to 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:44.080 play Superman, his first ever superhero role. He had and 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.720 would be connected to other comic book projects like Constantine, 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.600 which eventually went to Keanu Reeves. For the record, It's 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:56.480 pronounced Constantine in the comics and Hard Boiled, a pulp 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:00.919 comic written by comics legend Frank Miller, but Superman was 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.840 the Big One, a beautiful freak, Cage said of the character. 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:09.560 When Cage accepted the role in he was about to 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:13.360 kick off an incredible run of action movie hits Conner 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:18.320 Face Off the Rock. Those three movies combined made over 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.480 half a billion dollars. He had transformed himself from an 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:26.840 eccentric character actor who ate live cockroaches and vampire's kiss 0:20:27.320 --> 0:20:31.400 to a more refined version of Sylvester Stallone and Don't 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:35.399 Forget This Superman was also an Oscar winner for leaving 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:40.040 Las Vegas. Cage's run in the nineties was something to 0:20:40.119 --> 0:20:44.400 witness firsthand. It was an opportunity afforded to a select 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:48.600 group of people. One of them was Marco Kiras, Cage's 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.560 tenured stand in. Not a stunt devil. Marco doesn't do 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:56.080 any jumping. You can't set Marco on fire. But when 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:58.800 you need someone who looks like Cage to stand in 0:20:58.920 --> 0:21:02.000 Cage's place while the lighting is being set up, that's 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:05.320 how you've called. For years. Marco had often been told 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:09.680 he looked a lot like Cage. Yes, yeah, often, but 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:12.879 different people, they said, Cage and Alec Baldin. Depends on 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.240 how heavy I was getting. Joe Montagna Cage. You know, 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.800 it just depended on my look, my attire. But Marco 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.879 didn't really want the job at first. After being in 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.040 Los Angeles for a few years and doing the waiter thing, 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.879 sure he recognized an opportunity. It was a chance to 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:34.760 double for Cage in the heist comedy Trapped in Paradise. 0:21:35.400 --> 0:21:38.760 But the gig was in the winter in Toronto, the 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:43.080 coldest winter in years, and so I said no. I said, 0:21:43.119 --> 0:21:44.920 thank you so much. I've never done the job, but 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:47.639 I decline, and they all got piste off at me 0:21:47.640 --> 0:21:49.560 because it was the perfect fit for the Cage, and 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:51.560 they convinced me to do the job. So I actually 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:55.040 then took the job. He came with perks right off 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:57.359 the top. I didn't know any different, to tell you 0:21:57.400 --> 0:22:00.240 the truth, but that's where it all happened. So I 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:03.960 was a real needed fit. I had all the union work, 0:22:04.000 --> 0:22:07.760 and I had film experience, but not standing experience. So 0:22:08.000 --> 0:22:09.880 to me it was a bit of a degrading position. 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:12.720 But I realized it was a really necessary position. So 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.200 when I started to work in this film, within a month, 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:16.960 he was very interested in me, and he thought I 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:19.800 was very good, and basically I followed the rules and 0:22:19.840 --> 0:22:21.600 I did the right stuff, and he asked me to 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:24.000 go on tour with him as a standard, and I did. 0:22:24.440 --> 0:22:26.439 I had nothing else going on in life. It was 0:22:26.560 --> 0:22:28.800 very unique to be in a position where Nick Cage 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:31.840 was the biggest star in the world and I was 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:35.960 the biggest star standing in the world, and I didn't 0:22:36.000 --> 0:22:38.639 really know it or appreciate it because we are working 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:41.720 so many films and in so many locations that our 0:22:41.800 --> 0:22:45.400 hands were just constantly in the work. Whatever Marco might 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:48.159 have felt about the job before, it turned out to 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:52.280 be a pretty good deal. There were perks. Cage didn't 0:22:52.320 --> 0:22:56.200 just buy stuff for himself, he bought stuff for everyone 0:22:56.280 --> 0:23:00.400 around him. Yeah, it was. It was definitely travel because 0:23:00.400 --> 0:23:04.159 obviously I did all those films and traveled, and they 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:06.480 put you up to the hotels to give you a 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.679 rent a car, to give you per deems on a contract. 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:12.560 It was a real perky package. A lot of gifts 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:15.880 from Cage. That guy showers you with gifts. The guy 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:18.920 is the biggest giver I had ever met in my life, 0:23:19.000 --> 0:23:22.320 let alone in Hollywood. Oh my god. Everything anything from 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:27.000 designers suits to jackets to luggage to expensive bottles of wine. 0:23:27.000 --> 0:23:29.639