Nicolas Cage says he was offered a role in The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix but had to turn it down.
Nicolas Cage seems like he has a very unique process when it comes to deciding which movies he’s going to star in. He has plenty of classics such as Face/Off and National Treasure but, every so often there’s a major disaster such as Left Behind or Season of the Witch which makes us question his acting process. But what if Cage went through with his alleged offer to be in The Matrix? Better yet, what if Nicolas Cage played Strider/Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy? Both nearly happened.
In a recent interview with Newsweek, Nicolas Cage revealed that he had offers on the table to star in both Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. The problem was he was forced to turn them down, likely changing movie history and probably making Nicolas Cage’s biggest regrets of all time.
I don’t really have any regrets. I think regret is a waste of time. I try to always move forward as opposed to dwelling on the past or the movies that might have happened. There certainly were movies that I probably would have benefited from if circumstances in my life allowed me to make them…
Lord of the Rings. That trilogy. Aragorn. Or The Matrix. But the thing is about those movies, I can watch them. I can enjoy them as an audience member. I don’t really watch my own movies. And so I genuinely do have the joy of watching these—especially with Lord of the Rings.
Viggo Mortensen made the role of Aragon unique, but having Nic Cage play him may have transformed the movie completely. Motivational speeches, Nicolas Cage action figures, and possible a Nic Cage Lord of the Rings spin-off. But, the actor revealed he had a good reason for turning it down:
Were you offered a role in that?
Yeah…. There were different things going on in my life at the time that precluded me from being able to travel and be away from home for three years. And I do mean it. I get to enjoy the movies as an audience member, because I don’t watch my own movies.
I think the major thing to take away from this story is that Nic Cage does not watch his own movies. But, he’s not alone. Plenty of actors don’t watch their own movies. But, it does demonstrate how movies take on a completely different meaning when you are in front of the camera then when you are watching it from the comfort of your living room.
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What do you think of Nicolas Cage playing Neo? Or a leading role in The Lord of the Rings? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below!
