Nicolas Cage finds ‘Cage Rage’ memes ‘frustrating’

Actor Nicolas Cage has vented out his frustration over “Cage Rage” memes circulating on the web, saying they do “disservice” to his new film “Mandy”. The 54-year-old actor has long been a subject of internet jokes with many taking screenshots of his outlandish expressions from his films and turning them into hilarious memes, which are often termed as “Cage Rage”.

In an interview with Indiewire, Cage said the memes are unfair to “Mandy”, directed by Panos Cosmatos. It features the actor as a revenge seeking lover.

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“The issue is, with the advent of the internet, doing these mashups, where they pull these choice moments without the context of the whole film around it to support it, has created this meme-ification, if you will. It’s been branded ‘Cage Rage’, and it’s frustrating.

“I’m sure it’s frustrating for Panos, who has made what I consider a very lyrical, internal, and poetic work of art, to have this ‘Cage Rage’ thing slammed all over his movie. It’s one thing for me, because I’d like to think I could continue to work with Panos, but the internet has kind of done the movie a disservice,” the actor said.

Cage, however, admitted that he sometimes go over the board to fulfil “my abstract and more ontological fantasies with film performance, by playing people who were crazy, or by playing people who were on drugs, or supernaturally possessed”.

“I had to find some sort of engine to attach it to, so it could coalesce, and gel, in some way. I chose to play Peter Loew (in ‘Vampire’s Kiss’), the literary agent who was losing his mind, to think he was Nosferatu so I could channel some Max Schreck-like acting.

“I chose Terence in ‘Bad Lieutenant’, who was high on coke, to be able to use drugs—not literally—so I can add more James Cagney into it. There’s always some sort of a reason you can attach to it. It’s all very thought out and carefully planned,” Cage said.