Nicolas Cage Admits He Took "Crummy" Movie Roles to Get Out of Debt

As you know, there was a time when it seemed like Nicolas Cage was taking any movie role that was thrown at him. I remember everyone talking about why he was taking those kinds of roles and hearing that it was because he was in debt, which seemed crazy to me for a successful actor like Cage! But, it turns out it was true!

Cage recently admitted during an interview with 60 Minutes that he did take on “crummy” roles to get out of debt and he explained why, saying:

“I was over-invested in real estate. The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time. I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”

Cage shared that this was “dark” period in his life, but taking on those jobs kept him afloat and allowed him to get rid of his debt. He added:

“Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work. Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in, that I care every time.”

While some of the movies he starred in weren’t that good, I like the fact that he put real effort into his work. This wasn’t the only time that Cage talked about his rough financial situation. In 2022 he told GQ:

“When I was doing four movies a year, back to back to back, I still had to find something in them to be able to give it my all. They didn’t work, all of them. Some of them were terrific, like Mandy, but some of them didn’t work. But I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.”