10 Brilliant Tweaks That Suddenly Made Actors Cool As F***

5. Nicolas Cage Cleared His Debts & Got Selective With Roles Again

Iron Man Robert Downey Jr.
Lionsgate

Nicolas Cage is about as singular as actors get, but the man's career hit a serious roadblock in 2009 when the IRS pursued him for unpaid federal taxes, forcing him to basically take every paying role offered his way.

For the near-decade that followed, Cage gradually drifted out of the theatrical movie business altogether and instead found himself appearing in quick-and-easy direct-to-DVD films - seemingly in an attempt to clear his sizeable debts.

Despite Cage's steadfast refusal to phone it in, these movies were largely panned and made the actor something of a laughing stock in the industry - a textbook example of a bonafide A-lister falling from grace.

But as Cage's debts fizzled away by the end of the 2010s, he once again sought to book parts in more interesting and mainstream movies.

And so, the last five years have seen him appear in a slew of well-received films, including Mandy, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Colour Out of Space, Pig, and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

The Nic Cage renaissance is in full swing, and an actor who was sneered at with derision by so many for so long is now once again celebrated as the veritable King that he absolutely is.

In this post: 
Iron Man
 
First Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.