Nicholas Cage Has Accepted He Must Be Both an Actor and a Meme

These days, it doesn’t take much for a Hollywood star to WatchIf An AI Reworks Copyrighted Images, Is It Art? | Future Tech CCShare SubtitlesOffEnglishAs an actor who took up the craft because he fell in love with film performances, he was candid in saying he didn’t do movies “to become a meme. I didn’t understand how to process what was happening.” But over time, Cage made peace with it, believing that such memes would eventually “compel someone to go back and look at the movies.”Advertisement In Dream Scenario, Cage plays Paul, a college professor who discovers he’s randomly appearing in the dreams of complete strangers and looks to monetize his unusual ability. Like Unbearable Weight, it’s a premise he’s oddly suited for, and he likened Paul’s attempts at monetizing his unusual ability to real-life gambling: “When fame turns on you, the effects of loss....are more profound than the effects of winning. There’ve been moments when things were broadcast about my finances, or mistakes I’d made became extremely public, and I felt all that.”AdvertisementThe Guardian’s interview shows that Cage has been able to embrace his meme status without letting it completely overtake him, saying he works to get himself “[into] a purer place of expression. It’s starting to kick into a high gear for me with Pig and Dream Scenario because they’re personal. I’m putting these feelings from my life into these characters. And with any luck, it’s connecting or communicating with the audience.”Dream Scenario hits theaters on November 10. io9 saw it at Fantastic Fest this past September, and you can read our thoughts on it Advertisement *Dream Sequence is produced by A24, an independent studio that is not a part of the AMPTP. They have signed an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA to allow actors like Cage to promote the movie. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest

Based on reporting by gizmodo.com.