What makes a true Hollywood star? Better yet, what makes the "perfect" Hollywood star? One might argue that no such thing exists, especially when you consider that everybody who sits down to watch a movie has different tastes, all of which depend on who they are, why they watch movies, and how seriously they take the industry and its associations. And that's fine, because a difference in opinion is what keeps things interesting. But what if we were trying to find a movie star who pushes all the buttons? And I don't mean purely from a "great acting" perspective, or going on the fact the they're polite in interviews and always well-groomed. No, I'm talking about a "real" Hollywood star: somebody who operates on and showcases every avenue of what it is to be an actor in Hollywood. That's all encompassing of a variety of traits, then, both negative and positive. And though superstars like George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are arguably "definitive" examples of proper Hollywood stars, they still don't capture all the diva-ness, the grit and the inherent mania of their industry. There is one man, however, who does. His name is Nicolas Cage, and I think he might just be (ahem) the definite Hollywood star. Now bear with me. I used to dislike Nicolas Cage a lot. Back when I started getting serious about movies as a teenager, I couldn't believe that Cage was an actor and that people
paid him and cast him in their movies out of choice. I thought he was absolutely terrible in everything he did. Wooden, consistently chewing the scenery, playing the same characters over and over again - and not to mention, from a tonal point of view, completely bewildering in places. Only as I've got older (and taken in the majority of the man's work) have I seen Nicolas Cage for what he actually is: the definite Hollywood star. Why? Because when you look at all of the aspects that define Hollywood's elite (and I mean
all of them), Cage exemplifies every single one. Seriously. Once you look into it, you won't believe how many boxes Cage actually ticks. Now this article isn't some bizarre pro-Nic Cage article that sets out to argue that he's Hollywood's greatest actor or anything like that, because he's far from even one of my personal favourites. That said, here's 10 reasons why Nicolas Cage is the perfect Hollywood star (and likely the only one working in Hollywood today).