Nicolas Cage Says He's Nearing Retirement From Acting in Movies

Nicolas Cage dropped a major revelation on fans recently, saying that he believes he is nearing retirement from acting in movies. The Oscar-winning actor recently spoke with Vanity Fair and, during the conversation, he said,"I may have three or four more movies left in me. I do feel I've said what I've had to say with cinema." 

"I think I took film performance as far as I could," Cage continued. "I do want to get much more severe and stringent in my selection process ... I want to say bye on a high note." The 59-year-old husband and father of three went on to note that his father passed away at the age of 75, so while he has "hopefully more" than 15 years left, he chooses to use that amount of time as a gauge for how he spends his time. "What do I want to do with those 15 years, using my father as the model?" Cage asked. "It occurred very clearly to me that I want to spend time with my family ... I'm starting to cement my plan." Cage did go on to say, however, that he may be open to trying television acting, which he hasn't done as of yet.

Cage has appeared in over a hundred movies throughout his career, with a recent one being Renfield. The film stars Nicholas Hoult (The Great, X-Men: First Class) as the titular character, who was introduced in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. In the original text, Renfield is an asylum patient who has a blood-drinking obsession and is coerced by Dracula into being a henchman. With the prospect of immortality dangling in front of him, Renfield dedicates his life to being of service to Dracula — played by Cage — only to be treated poorly and fed rats and insects. In the new horror-action-comedy film, Renfield is modernized as an ass-kicking right-hand man struggling with the emotional weight Dracula has saddled him with.

Currently, Cage is starring in A24's Dream Scenario, playing college professor Paul Matthews, a mild-mannered family man who "finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. However, when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, he's forced to navigate the consequences of his newfound stardom." Dream Scenario began a limited theatrical release on November 10, 2023, before expanding on November 22. It is now playing in theaters across the nation.