Nicolas Cage is an actor who always performs his all, but arguably his biggest and most intense performance is the one he won an Academy Award for -- that of alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson in "Leaving Las Vegas." The movie follows Sanderson as he tries to drink himself to death in Las Vegas, Nevada, a task that doesn't seem too difficult to anyone who's been there. He ends up involved in a complicated romance with a sex worker named Sera (Elisabeth Shue), which makes his suicidal tendencies capable of causing collateral damage and means he has to try and decide whether or not he wants to fight for his life after all. It's a brutal, heart-wrenching film and performance by Cage, but one scene in particular really left its mark on the actor and everyone who watched him.
In an interview with Vanity Fair where Cage rewatched several scenes from his own films,...
In an interview with Vanity Fair where Cage rewatched several scenes from his own films,...
- 1/14/2024
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
Nicolas Cage goes the extra mile for his characters. The Oscar winner has had plenty of unforgettable roles in the course of his multi-decade career and, thanks to a video for GQ, Cage has revealed some of the more unique ways he channeled those men for the silver screen. When it came time for his Oscar-winning performance as suicidal alcoholic Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas, the actor explained that he studied past alcohol performances by other actors and drew inspiration from those characters. However, upon a suggestion from his cousin Roman Coppola, he hired Tony Dingman, a poet who Cage said was "at that time very drunk," to be his "drinking coach." The...
- 10/4/2018
- E! Online
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