“I already suggested”: Pedro Pascal Was Left Heartbroken When Ghost Rider Star Nicolas Cage Rejected His One Career-Defining Request
Stars Pedro Pascal and Nicolas Cage starred in Cage’s 2022 meta-film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which Pascal played not only Cage’s fan but also a drug lord who offered him $1 million to attend his birthday. The Ghost Rider actor played a fictionalized and exaggerated version of himself in the movie.
The two actors’ chemistry was explicitly mentioned and praised by both the public and the critics in their positive evaluations of the film. The film, however, did not find success at the box office as it only made about $29.1 million. Pedro Pascal expressed his disappointment when Cage turned one of his requests down during the film’s promotional period. Let’s learn more.
Pedro Pascal believed Nicolas Cage would be a great Mandalorian
During the promotions for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Pedro Pascal shared in an interview that not only did he have a lot of fun working with Nicolas Cage, but he also suggested that Cage could get a role in his Star Wars series. He said,
“I already suggested [it]. I already said he’d make a great Mandalorian”. But at the same time, Cage does not believe that he belongs to the Star Wars world. As he noted, “I’m not in the Star Wars Family”.
Talking more about not being in the Star Wars family, Cage pointed out, “I’m a Trekkie, man. I’m on the Star Trek Enterprise. That’s where I roll… I’m not in the Star Wars family. I’m in the Star Trek family.”
Cage’s simple reason for not featuring in the Star Wars franchise is that he is a bigger fan of Gene Roddenberry than George Lucas. However, this refusal did make Pascal the actor appreciate Cage’s choice, as he said that Cage was one of the smartest people he had ever met and, according to him, it makes sense in terms of how cerebral and puzzle-making Star Trek is.
Pascal also added, “But I can identify [with] his intellectual loyalty to Star Trek. He’s a dedicated fan.”
Also read: MCU’s Ghost Rider Reboot Gets Diabolical Update as Nic Cage Fans Eagerly Await His Return
Nicolas Cage talks about his love for Star Trek
After it was noted that Nicolas Cage had refused to be a part of the Star Wars franchise because he is a Star Trek fan, he was asked about the same in a different interview.
Cage noted that he grew up watching William Shatner and believes that actor Chris Pine was terrific in those movies, adding that the movies were outstanding according to him and that he likes the political and the sociological messages. The actor suggested what science fiction is really about and why it’s such an important genre where one can say whatever they want to and Star Trek embraced that.
The actor noted that by exploring the science fiction genre one could put it on a different planet at a different time and can without people just jumping on you. He concluded that it’s one of the genres that can express an individual’s thoughts and he respects that.
Nicolas Cage refused to watch The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
During an interview, Nicolas Cage, who starred in a fictionalized version of himself in the movie, suggested that he is never going to watch the movie in which he starred alongside Pedro Pascal, adding that he has been told it’s a good movie. Cage said,
“My manager, Mike Nilon, who is also a producer on it, looked at it. He was very happy. I’m told the audience loved the movie. But it’s just too much of a whacked-out trip for me to go to a movie theater and watch me play [director] Tom Gormican’s highly neurotic, anxiety-ridden version of me. Because he kept pushing me in that direction. I won’t see it. But I do hope you enjoy it.”
He added that he suggested to the director that what he was playing in the movie was not him, but the director said the neurotic Cage was the best Cage, after which Nicolas Cage accepted that he did whatever the director had expected him to do on-screen.
Source: Variety
