Well, there goes my real estate investing dreams. If someone as rich as Nicolas Cage could become a debtor almost overnight as a result of real estate investment, what chance do I have?
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Okay, enough about my greedy self. Here’s what the “Ghost Rider” star had to say about being $6 million in debt and how he was able to recover.
Nicolas Cage – Says Acting Helped Him Get Over the “Dark” Period
This Sunday, Nicolas Cage looked back at his past financial struggles in a chat with journalist Sharyn Alfonsi on CBS’ 60 Minutes. At least, now we know why he made some “crummy” films during his prolific era.
“I was over-invested in real estate. … The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time,” Cage, 59, explained if the reason he was forced to work back-to-back, adding, “I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
However, work wasn’t only serving as a way he could pay back what he owed, it also helped him get through that “dark” period of his life.
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“That had to be a dark period for you,” Alfonsi said, with Cage responding, “It was dark, sure,” but booking work “no doubt” helped him through it.
“Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work,” he added. In the same vein, he defended his direct-to-videos film he made during that time, which he was often ridiculed for, saying, “Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in, that I care every time.”
In an interview with GQ last year, “The Renfield” actor echoed the sentiment, saying, “When I was doing four movies a year, back to back to back, I still had to find something in them to be able to give it my all. They didn’t work, all of them. Some of them were terrific, like Mandy, but some of them didn’t work.”
“But I never phoned it in,” said Cage. “So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.”
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Nicolas Cage – On Money Being A Major Deciding Factor On Whether He Made A Movie
Actors that have grown to be as big as Nicolas Cage tend to pick their works so that they don’t often miss. But choice was not a luxury Cage had during the days when he was pressed for cash. If the money’s good, the script doesn’t have to be.
“I can’t go into specifics or percentages or ratios, but yeah, money is a factor. I’m going to be completely direct about that. There’s no reason not to be,” he said at the time. “There are times when it’s more of a factor than not. I still have to feel that, whether or not the movie around me entirely works, I’ll be able to deliver something and be fun to watch.”
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