This ‘Face/Off’ Scene Made Nicolas Cage Feel Like He ‘Actually Left His Body’

It is no exaggeration to say that Face/Off is one of Nicolas Cage’s more iconic films, and now Paramount+ subscribers can relieve the beautifully unhinged performance he delivers anytime, as the movie is newly available on the streaming service. Interestingly, the legendary actor previously revealed that there was one scene in the movie that made him feel like he “actually left” his body. During an appearance on the Variety Award Circuit podcast — as reported by Entertainment Weekly — Cage opened up about Face/Off and showered praise on the film for being such a unique piece of cinematic art.

“That movie was an interesting example of independent attitude and big-studio filmmaking,” Cage explained. “The fact that it worked, that it landed, and the public loved it, I was like, ‘Okay, see, this is why we gotta make both. We can’t give up on the independent movie.’” He then went on to recall the scene that left him with an out-of-body experience. “That was the scene in the jail cell where – god, it’s such a trippy movie – where Sean Archer is pretending he’s Castor Troy and so it was so … cubist,” he explained. “And I remember I was like, ‘I’m Castor Troy!’ And it went on and on, almost like a riot.”

Cage said he “just kept going for it,” with the film’s director, John Woo, fully in support of his approach. “There was a moment in there where I think I actually left my body,” Cage said. “I got scared: ‘Am I acting or is this real?’ I can see it if I look at the movie, that one moment, it’s in my eyes.”

Released in 1997, Face/Off stars Cage as crime lord Castor Troy, who is constantly pursued by FBI agent Sean Archer, played by John Travolta. After finally apprehending Troy, Archer takes his face and pretends to be Troy so that he can gain crucial information on the location of an explosive device. Troy eventually escapes capture, but not before taking Archer’s face in return, turning the insane cat-and-mouse, or mouse-and-cat, game on its head.

In 2022, it was announced that Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard is helming a new Face/Off film, which he explained is not a remake, but rather a “continuation” of the original movie. “It’s not about the world that the characters exist in. It’s about Sean Archer and it’s about Castor Troy,” Wingard explained. “That’s what this movie is about. It’s the continuation of that story. It’s hard to talk about other than that but this is, to me, the definitive continuation of that saga.”