Perhaps this is why, in my opinion, he thrives so much in John Woo’s 1997 classic, Face/Off. But mostly, the running joke was how bizarre he is as a movie star not the conventionally chiselled action hero, nor traditionally “cool.” He seems almost out of place in certain roles, himself an eccentric character more fascinating than those he’s playing. It dawned on me then how much Cage has shaped my movie watching experiences growing up, appearing in such an eclectic and seemingly random array of films. Sat amongst the filth, we’d watch everything from Con Air and The Rock, to the deplorable Drive Angry and Raising Arizona (another of my favourites.) When I was at university, I had this friend that would host Nicolas Cage themed movie nights in our damp little house, filled with Styrofoam takeaway boxes and cigarette butts floating in days-old dirty pints. Ronny takes her to the first opera, Puccini's La bohème, on the promise he will never bother her again… This is when it all goes wrong for her as she ends up in bed with Ronny after telling him he is a 'wolf' who cut off his own hand to escape the trap of a bad relationship. Loretta invites Ronny to her wedding, and when he refuses and reveals his wooden prosthetic hand she offers to cook for him to discuss it. He’s the perfect disgruntled anti-hero, Ronny, who pursues his brother Johnny’s fiancé Loretta (Cher) relentlessly, having no qualms given he blames his brother for losing his hand in an accident at his bakery. I don’t think Cage is my idea of a romantic hero, but I guess that’s the point.

Even when they were ‘in love’, I found it all a bit cringy. I would have been under ten when this came out and even then I didn’t quite buy the attraction between the pair - they seemed a complete mismatch to me.

I’ve not seen many Nicolas Cage films, but I do remember his 1987 offering, Moonstruck starring Cher, as a very funny, charming and heart-warming film.

Nic cage wild at heart