10 Times Actors Had Personal Reasons For Taking Film Roles

These days, Nicolas Cage's name above the title of a movie means he has more debts to pay off. When he was insanely wealthy, the Oscar winner wasn't exactly careful with his finances, purchasing a black market Tyrannosaurus Rex skull, a castle and a pet shark, among other things. Those direct-to-DVD releases were paycheques. We can mock him all we want for his performance in The Wicker Man, there's a part of the actor that knew how ridiculous the role was.

Every now and then, Cage can still invest in a role whole-heartedly and, for better or worse, the result is always interesting. He's seemingly out of the red now, taking more daring roles in films like Mandy and The Colour Out of Space. He's also allowed himself the creative freedom to succumb to any whim he pleases.

The man who will "die in the name of honour", as he was heard ranting outside a bar one night took on the role of Behmen Von Bleibruck (not a typo) in 2011's much-derided Season of the Witch exactly on such a whim. To hear Cage tell it, "I always wanted to play a knight." It was that simple.