Top 10 Major Movies Roles That Were Almost Played By Nicolas Cage
Every second Nicolas Cage goes without acting work is an unforgivable crime against movegoing audiences everywhere.
Directors and filmmakers are duty-bound to cast him in any role, no matter how ridiculous.
And today we’ve seen Nic Cage as every “Game of Trones” character , so you might not be surprised to learn that Cage was actually up for a number of huge roles that could have been his most famous, if he had taken them!
Here goes the Top 10:
10.Green Goblin ( Spider-Man )
Once again, we almost saw Cage in a major superhero movie, but he turned it down. Cage was offered the role of the Green Goblin in "Spider-Man," but he decided against taking it and Willem Dafoe took it instead.
9. Vincent Mancini (The Godfather: Part III)
When Francis Ford Coppola was making his third installment of his famous "The Godfather" films, he definitely had family on his mind.
Not only did he cast his daughter Sofia in the film, but he also wanted to cast his nephew Nicolas Cage.
Cage was considered for the role of Vincent, but the role ultimately went to Andy Garcia instead.
8. Scarecrow ( Batman Begins)
Joel Schumacher's Batman films are famously reviled, but somehow, after creating "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin," Warner Brothers still wanted him to create a third Batman film, which would be called "Batman Triumphant."
Schumacher sought out Nicolas Cage to play Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, but thankfully Christopher Nolan took over the franchise to create "Batman Begins" instead, and cast Cillian Murphy in the villainous role.
7. Harry Dunne (Dumb and Dumber)
Carrey and Cage had been trying to work together at the time, and Carrey specifically asked for Cage to play the part.
However, Cage passed to film "Leaving Las Vegas" instead, which did wind up winning him an Academy Award for Best Actor.
6. Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory)
When remaking the famous 1971 musical "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," a ton of actors were being considered for the iconic role of the zany chocolatier originally portrayed by Gene Wilder.
Cage was one of the actors in talks to play the role that wound up going to Johnny Depp .
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5. Neo (The Matrix )
Cage has mentioned in interviews that he was offered the lead role in "The Matrix" saga, but passed on it simply because he didn't want to go to Australia to film it.
The part went to Keanu Reeves instead, and became is most famous film role.
4. Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin)
The 1992 biographical film "Chaplin" portrays the life of the legendary actor. Nicolas Cage was considered for the titular role, but it was ultimately given to Robert Downey Jr.
3. Tony Stark ( Iron Man )
As early as 1997, more than 10 years before "Iron Man" was released, Cage had expressed his interest in portraying the Marvel superhero. Cage is a huge Marvel fan, and he even chose his stage name after the Marvel character Luke Cage.
Of course, the role went to Robert Downey Jr. instead, but Cage still got to play a Marvel hero later on in "Ghost Rider."
2.Aragorn (Lord of the Ring)
The "Lord of the Rings" films are beloved by so many, and a big reason for that is the strong and brave character of Aragorn. Before Viggo Mortensen took the part, Peter Jackson actually offered it to Nic Cage.
Cage turned it down because it required a 3-year stay in New Zealand, and he wanted to spend time with his family instead.
1. Superman (Superman Lives)
In the late 1990's, Tim Burton was working on a Superman film that would revive the franchise from the 1970's Christopher Reeve movies.
The film never came to be due to a fight between Burton and screenwriter Kevin Smith, but set to play Superman and Clark Kent in the film was none other than Nicolas Cage.
Since then, Bryan Singer and Zack Snyder have both rebooted the franchise, without Cage.
Just imagine how these blockbusters would have been different with Nic Cage at the helm!
