This actor, who belongs to one of Hollywood’s most famous dynasties, is a National Treasure but in his personal life, he’s trapped in a “quiet, horrible nightmare.”
The Family Man actor, who once bought a seat on a plane for his child’s imaginary friend, is now living in a “hostile environment” created by his son’s ex-wife, who’s preventing him from meeting his four-year-old twin granddaughters.
Keep reading to learn the identity of the star whose name change was inspired by a superhero!
When this actor was only 15, he was seated in a car with his uncle, one of Hollywood’s leading filmmakers, and begged him for a chance to appear in one of his award-winning films.
“Give me a screen test, I’ll show you acting. There was just silence in the car,” said the star, who’s proudly bizarre both on and off screen.
As a 17-year-old, the actor paved his own path to stardom and earned a minor role in the 1982 hit, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, a coming-of age cult favorite.
“I was the brunt of jokes because my name was still Coppola,” says Nicholas Cage, who was born in 1962 as Nicholas Kim Coppola.
“People would not stop saying things like, ‘I love the smell of Nicolas in the morning,’ because of Apocalypse Now…and it made it hard to work and I said, ‘I don’t need this,’ and changed it to Cage,” the star explains of dropping the surname that connected him to his famous relative, Francis Ford Coppola.
Next, explaining why he chose Cage, he says, “It’s a combination of Luke Cage from Marvel comics, who was a character I liked, also named Power Man, and John Cage, the avant-garde composer. Speaks volumes about everything I’ve been up to ever since.”
His first starring role with Cage as his last name came in 1983’s Valley Girl and the anonymity he said made him feel as if he “had this weight come off my body.”
“Wow, I really can do this. And I felt liberated by that experience,” he tells Hollywood Reporter. “And you can see it in Valley Girl that I’m free. Whereas in Fast Times, or even Rumble Fish, I’m somewhat stuck,” he says, referring to his appearance in 1983’s Rumble Fish, a film directed by his uncle.
Over the next several years, Cage worked in back-to-back films, earning the reputation as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actors.
In 1988, he earned Golden Globe nominations for Moonstruck with Cher and Honeymoon in Vegas with Sarah Jessica Parker.
It was also the same year he met actor Christina Fulton, who in December 1990 gave birth to his first son, Weston Coppola Cage, an actor who appeared as the younger version of his dad in the 2014 film Rage.
Cage, who earned an Oscar for his 1995 role in Leaving Las Vegas, also shares a son Kal-El (Superman’s birth name) born in 2005 with his third wife Alice Kim, and daughter August Francesca (born 2022) with his fifth wife, Riko Shibata.
Cage was also famously married to Patricia Arquette (1995 to 2001) and Lisa Marie Presley (2002), whom he filed for divorce only months later.
Speaking with People, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent actor says that family comes “first and foremost.”
“There’s no version of Nick Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children…There’s no version of Nick Cage that didn’t put family first over career,” says the star of Raising Arizona.
He adds, “I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”
Offering evidence to that, actor Minnie Driver once said: “Was once on a plane with [Nicholas Cage] and his son and a seat had also been purchased for his son’s imaginary friend.”
Weston Coppola Cage
To this day the Adaptation star has a very tight bond with his children, and two of his grandchildren, Lucian (born 2014) and Sorin (2016), who Weston shares with his second wife.
Coach becomes an internet sensation with heartwarming gesture at youth basketball game
Educators are vital pillars of our community, yet their contributions are often underestimated. It takes a special person to dedicate themselves to teaching, mentoring and motivating young minds.
Jonathan Oliver, a physical education teacher at WG Nunn Elementary in Valdosta, Georgia, is one example of this commitment. He recently earned recognition for a touching moment of kindness during a children’s basketball game.
When kindergarten teacher Kristen Paulk asked for help with her ponytail, Oliver didn’t hesitate. He knelt on a basketball to be at eye level with her and carefully tied her pigtails to make sure her hair didn’t fall into her face. This tender gesture, captured on video, was shared on YouTube by Kandice Anderson, a fellow teacher
The video, aptly titled “When Your Job Goes Beyond Teaching!” quickly went viral and captured the hearts of many. It eventually caught the attention of Good Morning America, which interviewed the 34-year-old father of three.
“I was surprised by the attention because that’s exactly what we do,” Oliver told Good Morning America, unaware of the recording. “We want students to feel at home and loved. For me, wearing a ponytail just helped.”
Oliver mentioned that while Kristen’s request was for a ponytail, his hairstyling expertise was otherwise quite limited. “If she had asked for something else, I would have said, ‘You better ask your mom,’” he joked.
Kristen’s mother, Miyah Cleckley, expressed her appreciation for Oliver’s gesture. “I always know that Kristen is in excellent hands with him. It was especially touching because my husband helps us a lot with our daughters’ hair, as we have five girls and a son.”
There are many stories of teachers going the extra mile, and Jonathan Oliver’s story is a beautiful example of everyday heroes in education.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this touching story, share them in the comments!
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