Nicolas Cage Says He Was “Shocked” to Discover He Is Not an “Alien”

Nicolas Cage confessed that he’s always felt a little not of this world, which is why he was “shocked” to discover as a child that he was not in fact an alien.

In a new interview for Rampstyle magazine, the actor explained that it all started because his father would tell him “he felt like he had to introduce himself to me because I was such an alien.” So, he admitted, “I was shocked the day I went to the doctor’s office as a child and I found out that I had normal organs and a normal skeleton because I was certain I was from another planet.” But Cage also credits that extraterrestrial sensibility with helping him realize what he should do with his life. “I had difficulties connecting with other people. When I saw David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, I realized I needed to do something, so I became an actor,” he said.

But the Oscar winner revealed that while part of his supernatural disposition is intrinsic, part of it is an intentional performance he puts on for his audience. During an interview with Vanity Fair from July 2021, Cage was asked about the surreal perception the public has of him thanks to stories he’s told, such as the dinosaur skull he bought at auction and then had to return, his pet king cobras that want to kill him, buying a serial killer’s home as creative inspiration, and spending the night in Dracula’s castle. “Much of it is by design—I kind of actively wanted to shape a perception of myself when I was really young,” he explained. “I’ve been doing this since I was 15…sometimes when you start out that young, you really want to make a mark. And I did things as a young person in the industry and in magazine interviews and on television in England, for example, that I can’t imagine doing again at 57, but nonetheless I did do it. I wanted to create a kind of wild and artistic and bizarre image. I have changed in terms of what I want to express, and what I want my perception to be.”

However, Cage added, “I personally think I’m very boring. I find myself perfectly content staying at home and playing with my cats or spending time with my boys, who are now older and into their own interests. I spend a lot of quiet time at home alone with my wife, Riko [Shibata], and with our pets. I don’t see [my life] as dangerous or wild, although I do think there is a certain pleasure that is taken in imagining that I am crazy.”