Nicolas Cage came to hate this beloved actor after an extremely strange audition: “What is going on here?”

Hollywood is an industry that does not work without collaboration. A director’s vision may be the driving force behind a film, but without the work of hundreds of people working together on a project, the world of film would be much less colorful. Of course, this means that actors like Nicolas Cage often have to work to make someone else’s vision a reality.

Cage is an experienced professional when it comes to doing his job. As a dedicated member of the acting world, Cage often seems to operate on the strange side of the craft, largely due to his dedication to perfecting his craft. But sometimes the kind of thinking that makes you a cinematic wild card can also lead to difficult situations.

The green hornet
Seth Rogen discovered this when Cage auditioned for the role of villain Benjamin Chudnofsky in the superhero film The Green Hornet. Cage, who would play Rogen’s opponent, wanted to play the role in an unconventional way.

“The Green Hornet was something I really wanted to do. I think director Michel Gondry is very talented and I hoped it would work. But I think Seth Rogen and Michel had a completely different direction in mind for the character than I had.” Cage explained.

different view
Rogen wrote the script for The green hornet alongside Evan Goldberg and also played The Green Hornet. Cage would have liked to play the role of the villain, a role that ultimately fell to Christoph Waltz.

Cage didn’t get the role because he had a different vision of the character: “I wasn’t interested in playing a simple villain who killed people at random. I had to add some humanity and try to bring something that made you understand why the character was that way. But there wasn’t enough time to develop that.”

Accent
While it seems like a reasonable request, Rogen later revealed that the problem wasn’t Chudnofsky’s humanity, but rather that Cage wanted to play the character with a Jamaican accent. Rogen shared that Cage played the character as a “white Bahamian” I wanted to hold on, I also had one “voodoo ritual” would act on the hero.

It was an uncomfortable idea that became even stranger when Cage suggested discussing it in person. “We got home and within 60 seconds we were all sitting in the living room while he stood in front of us and recited a monologue in a Jamaican accent. We were all thinking: What is going on here?”

Spring breakers
Rogen continued: “A monologue, I might add, that wasn’t in the script – and had nothing to do with the script. At the time I thought, ‘I don’t think he read the script!’ There was nothing to indicate that he knew what movie we were trying to make.” , except it was called The Green Hornet and it had a villain.”

If that was awkward, it became even stranger when Spring Breakers was released in 2012. James Franco played a white Bahamian villain in it. With Rogen set to work with Cage again, the angry actor demanded answers: “Did you tell James about that meeting we had? That Jamaican meeting?”

he didn’t like me
Rogen continued: “He said, ‘Because that guy in Spring Breakers, was he based on the character I did for you?’ I said, no, absolutely not, I think it was actually based on a rapper from Florida. Obviously he didn’t believe me.” When asked why he shared this story publicly, Rogen responded: “Cage doesn’t like me anymore. So he’s going to stay that way!”

While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Cage attempted to defuse the situation by saying: “I like Seth. He’s a funny guy and clearly a good storyteller. I wish him the best of luck with his book.” Collaboration is essential to making good Hollywood movies, but for every successful working relationship there are dozens that never got off the ground.

To look at?
Want The green hornet to see? You can rent and buy the movie at Pathe Thuis in main video.