There’s not much that would be surprising to learn about Nicolas Cage at this point, and yet his love of UFOs is still interesting. The actor’s doing press for his upcoming movie The Unbearable Weight of Massive talent, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some time to talk about alien abductions.
In an interview with Movie Maker, Cage let readers in on the details of his fascination, and how well it goes over with his wife.
“My wife actually laughs at me, because usually, for some reason — why, I don’t know — on Sunday, I like to just trip out and watch documentaries about flying saucers and UFOs. I just like watching people talk about their experiences. I find their behavior so interesting.”
“It does happen more often than not, and I don’t really know the explanation for why — I’ll just go on Amazon Prime and watch… movies about the historical aspect of people seeing flying saucers. I find it oddly relaxing and mystifying and confounding. It’s a pretty normal existence and somewhat unexciting. It’s not nearly as colorful as the characters I play.”
Somehow, all of this is easy to imagine. Cage is known for outlandish roles in which he either encounters something phenomenal, and/or he plays a social outcast who dances to the beat of his own drum. He’s like a magnet to the subject matter that pushes the limits of consciousness, which makes this news more of a confirmation than anything else. This is what makes Nic Cage, Nic Cage.
The Knowing might be a movie that intersects with this interest of his; in it, Cage plays someone who predicts the pattern of major disasters, and who has to work to uncover an otherworldly mystery. The “strangers” in the movie are actually aliens who have been sending messages to Earth, meaning Cage has technically already had an alien experience of his own.
UFOs and abductees have a long history that goes back centuries, and their legitimacy is still contested to this day. Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a notable astrophysicist, first classified UFO encounters and reported them in Project Blue Book. These included reports from pilots and ordinary people and their experiences with this strange phenomenon. There are many documentaries and articles regarding his lauded work, and there was even a History Channel scripted series about it, also titled Project Blue Book.
In Cage’s current film, he plays himself opposite a supposed super-fan played by Pedro Pascal. Fans will have to see how much of his interest will make it into the film when it releases.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent comes to theaters April 15.
