Nicolas Cage's latest film has been a life-long obsession for the comic-loving star, says PETA HELLARD
A BIKE ride to the local store as a seven-year-old changed Nicolas Cage's life forever.
It marked the first time he came across Ghost Rider, the comic-book character he's now brought to the big screen.
"I saw this comic - with this colourful, flaming skull on the cover and he's coming right at you - and I was transfixed,'' said Cage, blue eyes wide open.
"I bought it and took it home and I remember sitting by myself in my room and staring at it literally for hours - I just loved the look of the character. I thought it was trippy and scary and cool.
"I think I was trying to comprehend how something scary could also be good.
"It is really how I got into reading and I still have that actual comic to this day.''
The comic is about motorcycle stunt rider Johnny Blaze, who is nightly transformed into the flaming Ghost Rider, a bounty hunter of rogue demons, after making a deal with the devil to save his loved ones.
It's the latest in the Marvel stable to be turned into a blockbuster and was filmed largely in and around Melbourne.
Cage, an avid motorcycling enthusiast and bike collector, said he enjoyed hitting the road both on and off the shoot.
"I love Melbourne - we had a great time filming there,'' he said.
"It has given the movie a very unique look. I particularly loved getting on the bike and riding off on the long roads framed by gum trees.''
Cage's starring turn came about after his initial plans to play Superman in the big-budget remake fell through because of major disagreements with the studio, which ended up going with unknown former soap star Brandon Routh.
When asked whether he was disappointed about missing out on the chance to play the iconic man of steel, Cage paused.
"I think the Superman movie that came out was a good movie,'' he said.
"But it was a very nostalgic movie and I'm not interested in repeating things.
"I was going to turn that character (Superman) on its ear, which obviously wasn't what the studio wanted, because they went with a more traditional approach.
"I had been trying to find a way to make a comic-book-based film for a long time and because I grew up reading Ghost Rider, it was much more personal for me - this was the one that was meant to be.''
Cage, 43, has injected his trademark quirky humour into what could have been the regular dry portrayal of a macho, tortured superhero, with his Johnny Blaze listening to Karen Carpenter to stay relaxed and eating jelly beans from a martini glass.
"I wanted it to be very playful,'' he said. "He's not a chain-smoking, hard-drinking bad-ass.
"He's an absurdist character and I think that's a good thing.
"That gives me a chance to bring comedy to it.''
The trip from script to screen was a long one, with Cage on board for several long years as filmmakers came and went, and both the storyline and characters underwent huge changes.
"The original script was really dark, but the final version opened up the character to a wider audience,'' he said.
"It has some scary moments - but more scary like 1950s, Vincent Price B-movies - and it is ultimately more accessible for families and younger people. I really wanted kids to see this movie because, at the end of the day, comic books were really made for childrens' minds and stimulating their imaginations, like they did mine.''
One child who has been inspired is Cage's 16-year-old son, Weston, who has created his own character and storyline that was recently picked up in a development deal with a comic company.
"I am very happy he has interests that are coming to life,'' Cage said proudly. "Comics are a part of the psychology of our whole family.''
It's a family that has grown of late, with Cage and wife Kim, 23, having one-year-old son, Kal.
"I've got my hands full with my kids,'' he laughed. "They're both coming into consciousness at very, very important and different spectrums of age.
"Kal is coming into consciousness as a human being and Weston is coming into consciousness as a man - so there's a polarity there and it takes a lot of work. But I'm a little more relaxed the second time around as a dad.''
Dressed in a dark overcoat with his thinning, layered hair dyed an unnatural shade of black, the pale, lanky actor looks less like the blockbuster pin-up of National Treasure and Con Air or the romantic hero of Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Moonstruck and more like the nerd lead of indie films such as Adaptation. Cage said his passion lay with his small films.
"It's true that I make, and have made, and probably will continue to make, big formula entertainment-based movies,'' he said.
"But they enable me to green-light smaller movies that are edgy, and that's really where my heart lies.
"I don't want to conform and I feel like it's my duty to keep rocking the boat.''
Ghost Rider opens on February 15. Nicolas Cage in a scene fromGhost Rider. / Sunday Mail (SA)
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Take heed of these words, my friends.... "You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give" Kahlil Gibran
