Random Amazing Roles Almost Played by Nicolas Cage (10 items)

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  (#10) Joel Barish

  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

  Apparently, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman had Nicolas Cage in mind when he was writing the script for the 2004 drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, years before director Michel Gondry would turn it into a big-screen sci-fi romance. 

  Cage, of course, already starred in another film from a Kaufman script - the meta-comedy Adaptation - in a dual role that brought him great acclaim.

  Who Got the Part:

  Cage let Jim Carrey have this one, affording the comedian a chance to showcase his full range of acting chops.
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  (#6) Randy 'The Ram' Robinson

  The role of washed-up '80s pro wrestling star Randy "The Ram" Robinson seems such a natural fit for Mickey Rourke, it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the part now. Rourke won a Golden Globe for playing Robinson and was nominated for an Oscar - and it's widely credited with fueling his most recent career revival.

  But it turns out, director Darren Aronofsky had offered the role to Nicolas Cage first, and Cage had actually accepted. Though some reports at the time had said that Cage had been dropped from the movie, the actor himself insisted that he had accepted the role and then thought better of it.

  Specifically, Cage said that he didn't think he could believably look like a steroid abuser without taking steroids himself. Which he would never do, you see. No, really. Cage said that: "I resigned from the movie because I didn't think I had enough time to achieve the look of the wrestler who was on steroids, which I would never do." Thanks for the clarification, N.C. Also, does this mean his guns from Kiss of Death are 100% natural?

  Who Got the Part:

  Aronofsky later told SlashFilm that Cage had "stepped aside" so that he could go with his first choice all along... Mickey Rourke. Details, details.
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  (#1) Superman

  • Smallville, Superboy, Adventures of Superman, Justice League Unlimited, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Superman Returns, Superman, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, The Bulleteers, Hindsight Is 20/20, A Uniform Used to Mean Something..., Justice League: Doom, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2, The Lego Movie, Superman III, Superman: Doomsday, Volcano, Superman vs. The Elite, Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam, Justice League: New Frontier, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Superman, Superman and the Mole Men, Hot Shots!, Batman vs. Superman, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics, A Man Who Was Superman, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Man of Steel, Superman II, Superman

  The failed Superman project of the late 1990s has become the stuff of legend. The tentatively titled Superman Lives was to be based on the Death of Superman storyline, and was at the time being actively pursued by uber-producer Jon Peters. Kevin Smith was sleighted to write the script, while Tim Burton was set to direct.

  Notoriously, Peters's beloved concept for a fight between Superman and a massive robotic spider inspired the climax of his 1999 disaster Wild Wild West. But of course, the tidbit everyone remembers is that Nicolas Cage, the weird not-necessarily-all-that-buff guy far-from-mild-mannered guy, was the main contender to play Superman and his alter-ego, Clark Kent.

  The above image - said to be a test of Cage in what was then being considered as a Superman suit - spread around the Internet, confirming what most had long suspected: Nic Cage as Superman is a weird idea. Also, Cage is either very stoned or his take on Superman is very squinty, like Clark Kent is permanently doing a Clint Eastwood Man With No Name trilogy impression whenever he dons the cape.

  Burton essentially backed off from the entire superhero genre and can currently be seen putting Johnny Depp in silly costumes once a year, for which they are each paid $500 billion. 

  In an odd final twist on this whole story: thieves stole a valuable copy of Action Comics #1 - the 1938 edition that introduced Superman - from Cage's Los Angeles home in 2000. (The comic resurfaced years later in a storage locker and was returned to Cage.) In 2012, afilm about the Nicolas Cage-Superman heist was proposed.

  Who Got the Part:

  Brandon Routh in "Superman Returns" (2006).
• 

  (#3) Neo

  • The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix, The Matrix Revolutions, Kid's Story, The Animatrix, Sex and the Matrix, The Matrix Revisited, MTV Movie Awards Reloaded

  Nicolas Cage was also in talks to star as Neo in The Matrix trilogy. See, according to Cage, he didn't want to go to Australia, so he was like, "forget appearing in a classic action film that kicked off an entire trilogy for which I would have been handsomely paid for, thus being able to keep my impressive comic book collection and castle-like Los Feliz mansion." Cause that's what, like a 14-hour flight? 

  Who Got the Part:

  Keanu Reeves ended up playing The Chosen One in the Matrix films.
• 

  (#7) Harry Dunne

  • Dumb & Dumber, Dumb and Dumber To

  It was announced that a sequel was on the way for the Farrelly Brothers' madcap comedy Dumb and Dumber, with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels once again reprising their roles as Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, respectively. Although in an alternate universe, it could have been the Dream Team of Carrey and Cage teaming up for another round of slope-bound tomfoolery, drunken misunderstandings, and humorous bowel evacuations. So close!

  Cage has said in interviews that he and Carrey wanted to work together at the time, and Carrey had specifically wanted to get him involved in Dumb and Dumber. Cage passed on the project, however, and decided to instead focus his energy on the little independent project Leaving Las Vegas. 

  Which, yeah, okay fine, earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor. But just think... he could have learned how to produce the most annoying sound in the world!

  Who Got the Part:

  Jeff Daniels played Harry Dunne in the 2014 sequel Dumb and Dumber To.
• 

  (#5) Chev Chelios

  • Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Crank

  During a Q&A at New York Comic-Con in 2011, the duo behind Crank - Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor - mentioned that they had initially written the main character of Chev Chelios as Nic Cage. No word on whether Cage would have done the movies with a Statham-esque raspy British accent, but sources can confirm that, if true, this would be super-awesome.

  It's not terribly hard to envision an amped-up Cage needed to constantly maintain a high state of adrenaline in order to function. Werner Herzog essentially made this same concept a few years ago with his gonzo Bad Lieutenant re-imagining, only with less Amy Smart and more iguanas.

  Who Got the Part:

  The part ended up being memorably inhabited by Jason Statham in two films - Crank (2006) and Crank: High Voltage (2009) - and remains one of his signature characters.

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