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Cage's name is synonymous with a highly eccentric, maximalist acting style, which he famously coined as the "Nouveau Shamanic" method. This approach has allowed him to bring bold, theatrical characters to the screen through larger-than-life performances, cementing his place in pop culture and extending his reach far and wide. A lot of people know his name, but now the Oscar-winning actor has shared a major revelation: He legally changed his name last year, as he decided to ditch his birth moniker once and for all.

Nicolas Cage as Castor Troy in Face/OffParamount Pictures Born Nicolas Kim Coppola, he adopted the stage name "Nicolas Cage" early on in his career to avoid the shadow of his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola – the acclaimed director behind The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and the less revered but widely ambitious, self-funded sci-fi epic Megalopolis. In a recent interview with Variety, Cage dropped the bombshell news that he changed his name last year, officially finalizing it through a court order. He explained why he finally decided to drop the "Kim Coppola" part of his name, and shared the inspiration behind his universally known stage name – which is now his official name – telling the outlet:

"I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year. I'm Nick Cage in life, and I'm Nick Cage on camera. 'Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else's, so I decided I'm going to bring it on and be "Cage." "Cage" is a name that I liked coming across in the comics — I just thought he had a cool name — and I grew up in a very avant-garde, artsy family and there was talk about John Cage and the experimental compositions that he did. I was looking for something like "James Dean"; I was looking for something short and sweet. I thought, well, I'll keep the name "Nicolas" because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an "h." I don't know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did."

He intentionally kept the first-name spelling "Nicolas" without an "h" to honor his father, but asserted that he is happy to be known as both "Nicolas" and "Nick" Cage. The surname was chosen in part as a tribute to the Marvel Comics character Luke Cage, which is rather apt, as Cage himself is having a moment in the superhero spotlight right now. He can currently be seen in the live-action series Spider-Noir, playing Ben Reilly, a private investigator and former vigilante, who ends up stepping out as his alter ego, "The Spider," once more to protect his friends from the dangerous mob boss Silvermane and his superpowered henchmen.

A lifelong comic book superfan – who even named one of his sons after Superman's Kryptonian birth name, Kal-El – Cage has portrayed several heroes on screen during his much-celebrated career, perhaps most notably starring as Johnny Blaze in Ghost Rider and its sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. However, MovieWeb's review of Spider-Noir suggests that he "finally gets the superhero saga he deserves" with Prime Video's Spider-Man adjacent series, noting that, "Spider-Noir is the 62-year-old Oscar winner's most front-and-center heroic role (sorry, Ghost Rider fans) and, even if the mind wanders to consider who would be a better fit for the part, our love for Cage and his obvious talent still carries us across eight episodes."

Following its global release, Spider-Noir was met with overwhelming critical and audience acclaim, resulting in 91% and 92% scores on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively, along with widespread praise for the show, which some have described as a "gloriously pulpy" masterpiece. It broke the actor's long-running streak of strictly starring in feature films, marking his first major leading TV role in years, and it sounds like his decision to take on the role was the right one, as Nicolas (or Nick) appears to have yet another hit in his vast body of work.

Quiz 5 Questions Are You Truly Noir Enough for Nick Cage? Your Top Score -- Attempts -- Average 94% Users 109 Start Quiz 0 0 Report Error Found an error? Send it info@movieweb.com so it can be corrected.

Follow Followed Nicolas Cage Birthdate January 7, 1964 Birthplace Long Beach, California, USA Birthname Nicholas Kim Coppola

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