Festival makes a Cage match

Kirk Baird

Friday, June 17, 2005 | 8:21 a.m.

A name can make all the difference -- especially in Hollywood.

But instead of trying to capitalize on his family name, aspiring actor Nicholas Kim Coppola opted to change it.

And so Coppola, nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, changed his name to Nicolas Cage, a variation of one of his favorite comic-book heroes, Luke Cage, growing up.

"Nic Cage was a cool name," the actor said. "And It was better than Nic Blue. I also thought of Victor Shade."

Despite trying to distance himself from his family legacy in films, the actor emerged from the shadow of his uncle's legacy in the '80s to become one of the recognized names in Hollywood.

Among his work: "Raising Arizona," "Wild at Heart," "Moonstruck," "Red Rock West," "Honeymoon in Vegas," "The Rock," "Con Air," "Face/Off," "Bringing Out the Dead," "Adaptation" and "Leaving Las Vegas," the film for which he won a best-actor Oscar

The CineVegas Film Festival honored the 41-year-old Cage with its Half-Life Award on Thursday night at Brenden Theaters 14. The award recognized the actor's contributions to his profession at a young age.

In introducing Cage to a capacity theater audience, CineVegas Director of Programming Trevor Groth said, "He always gives brilliantly nuanced performances. He truly is one of the greatest actors of our time."

Dennis Hopper, chairman of creative advisory board for CineVegas, was equally complimentary of Cage:

"To me, Nicolas Cage is one of our greatest American stylists," Hopper said. "He does things with his voice ... not unlike Chris Walken, who changes with the strangest speech pattern I ever heard. But it works."

Cage, who participated in a question-and-answer session moderated by film critic Elvis Mitchell, with Hopper joining in, said his use of voice in roles hasn't always made it easy for the actor -- particularly in Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married."

The director offered Cage the role of Charlie Bodell five times before the actor agreed to take it. And even then, it was with an usual condition.

"I told him I wanted to talk like Pokey the Clay Horse from 'Gumby,' " Cage said. "Francis said, 'Let's get into rehearsals and talk it out.' "

When studio executives saw clips of Cage's work, however, they were furious and wanted to replace the actor immediately.

"Francis cooked them dinner and calmed them all down and we finished the movie," Cage said.

Oddly enough, that role helped Cage secure one of his breakout performances as Ronny Cammareri in "Moonstruck," alongside Cher.

"When I asked Cher why she thought of me for 'Moonstruck,' she said, 'I saw "Peggy Sue Got Married" and I thought I was watching a two-hour train wreck,' " Cage recalled with a laugh.

Cage, however, still defends his voice in "Peggy Sue Got Married," as well as his penchant for making similarly off-beat choices for his roles.

"I'm not really doing my job unless I piss off a lot of critics," he said. "You have to progress and not play it safe. What I want (in a role) is, 15 years later people say, 'What the hell was he thinking?'

"To me, that's acting."

Ultimately, though, it's not being afraid to make such choices in his roles and in his films that's important to him as an actor -- even if it has hindered his career as a box-office draw.

"I know I could be a much bigger movie star if I went the John Wayne route, but I I'd be unhappy," he said. "I like stretching. I want to try something different each time."

As for the award and the film festival, Cage said he was at CineVegas for two reasons: Hopper, whom he admires as an actor and has even emulated in various roles, and for Las Vegas, with which he has a strong cinematic connection.

I came here for 'Honeymoon in Vegas' and then came for 'Leaving Las Vegas' and then I took out the Hard Rock guitar in 'Con Air,' " he said. "In a lot of ways, Vegas and I have grown up together. I've been coming here for 26 years and I've seen it change along with me.

"We've merged. I could've been Nick Vegas. That should've been my stage name."