Nicolas Cage blames 'dark' time when he was US$6 million in debt on real estate market crash
Nicolas Cage has blamed his financial woes on a real estate crash.
The 59-year-old has been at the centre of reports he had blown his US$150 million (S$200 mil) fortune, owed the IRS US$6.3 million in property taxes, and was taking every acting role he could in order to get out of debt. Despite his financial struggles, the Oscar-winning actor maintained that he never filed for bankruptcy.
Speaking to 60 Minutes' Sharyn Alfonsi, Cage said, “I was over-invested in real estate... the real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time.
“I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
To which Alfonsi replied: “That had to be a dark period for you.”
“It was dark, sure," said the father of three. Cage and his artist wife, Riko Shibata, 28, welcomed their first child, daughter August Francesca Coppola Cage, last September. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent actor also has sons Kal-El, 17, and Weston, 32, from previous relationships.
He added, “Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work.”
Watch Cage's 60 Minutes interview here:
Cage defended appearing in a string of critically mocked films as he struggled with repayments by saying: “Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in, that I care every time.”
In August 2019, Cage told The New York Times Magazine about taking back-to-back jobs for financial reasons, saying: “I can’t go into specifics or percentages or ratios, but yeah, money is a factor.
“I’m going to be completely direct about that. There’s no reason not to be.
“There are times when it's more of a factor than not. I still have to feel that, whether or not the movie around me entirely works, I’ll be able to deliver something and be fun to watch.
“But yes, it’s no secret that mistakes have been made in my past that I’ve had to try to correct.
“Financial mistakes happened with the real estate implosion that occurred, in which the lion’s share of everything I had earned was pretty much eradicated. But one thing I wasn’t going to do was file for bankruptcy.”
Cage is currently starring as Dracula in the horror-comedy Renfield. Watch 8 DAYS' exclusive interview with him and co-star Nicholas Hoult here:
— BANG SHOWBIZ
Renfield (M18) is now in cinemas.
Photo: TPG News/Click Photos
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