Video:Nicolas Cage Interview - Drive Angry in 3D

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Transcript:Nicolas Cage Interview - Drive Angry in 3D

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2010 Comic Con presentation of Summit Entertainment's Drive Angry.

Nicolas Cage - 'Milton' in Drive Angry

What was the appeal of Drive Angry?

Nicolas Cage: "The first thing I would offer is that this is a movie that hails from ‘70s classic films, like High Plains Drifter, movies that were a major factor in my decision to become a film actor. And then on top of that is it’s in 3-D and directed by one of the pioneers in this day and age of 3-D, Patrick [Lussier]. He’s a purist, so I knew it would be in the camera and that I would have an opportunity to try to work with the 3-D camera and see how that would inform my performance, with different body language and different ways I could play with the format. That was a big draw for me."

Can you describe the essence of this character for you?

Nicolas Cage: "I try to keep my characters raising more questions than giving answers. I don’t want to leave too much on the table. I want you to have your connection and your secret understanding of the character, so I hesitate to talk too much about anything specifically about him."

Why do you think the aspect of retribution resonates so strongly with an audience when we see these characters?

Nicolas Cage: "Because everybody gets angry. Everyone feels like they’re being tested or they’ve gone through trials in life and, especially when loved ones are involved. The fierce, protective nature comes alive. And I think this is happening in Milton. He’s on a terror to save this little child."

Do you consider Drive Angry one of your midnight movies, like Wild at Heart and Vampire’s Kiss? And can you explain your love for those movies?

Nicolas Cage: "I definitely feel that Drive Angry fits into that audience. I think my love for those kinds of films is the intensity and the adrenaline of them. They don’t compromise. They just honest and they give it everything they have. I used to enjoy punk rock music. I feel like it’s that kind of relentless intensity that I respond to."

Were there specific ways it affected your performance?

Nicolas Cage: "For me, in terms of perspective, I wanted to know how I was going to become friends with this new mechanism. I would talk with Patrick and ask, 'Can I move like this?' I even went so far at one point, to try to stick my tongue out all the way, so I could get into the fourth row of the audience to see if that would have an affect. I don’t know if it made it into the movie or not. But, my point is is it's a relationship with perspective, and the camera, body language, dance and movement, and I wanted to see if there was anything we could do with that."

Nicolas, growing up you went through the various incarnations of 3-D. What do you think of 3-D movies of the past in comparison to 3-D movies of today?

Nicolas Cage: "For me, the 3-D movies in the ‘50s never worked for me. I just felt it didn’t look right. I would not go into that dimension. They just turned me off because they looked so goofy. Today, this is the time for 3-D. I think Avatar really showed that, in terms of the perspective and not just pop-ups, but perspective and depth. It’s almost like painting. Some of the shots that we did in Drive Angry, when I would look at the monitor, I saw those depths of field, like with a pool and the pool was lit at night and Amber [Heard] and I would be running, and you see the dimension. There’s no better word for it than beautiful. It’s a very beautiful format for filmmaking."

What is your character’s relationship with anger?

Nicolas Cage: "I can’t encapsulate everything about Milton in the word anger. There are other things also motivating his drive. Hopefully, when you see the movie, there are other dimensions to the character. It’s more like a sense of otherness and a purpose, but the anger is an anger that’s a residual anger of something that happened in another life. And I’ve probably said too much already. But I do want to talk about the relationship that Milton has not with anger but with Amber."

"Piper provides the heart in the movie. When you see the movie, you’ll see what Amber did with it so beautifully. There is another element that may surprise you, where the film actually has a pretty deep, strong heart - and that’s not romantic. It’s like a partnership. I think it would be great if we could do another film because I love that relationship to deliver between Milton and Piper."

More on Drive Angry:

Drive Angry Photos



Drive Angry Press Conference, Trailer, Poster and Cast List