Nicolas Cage has revealed he legally changed his name early in his career to avoid being seen as “the clown cousin” of the famous Coppola family.
While conversing with Variety, the Spider-Noir star revealed he chose to carve out his own path instead of being labelled the “clown cousin” of the renowned film family.
“I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year,” he said.
The Oscar winner, born Nicolas Kim Coppola, adopted his stage name as his legal name last year added, “I'm Nick Cage in life, and I'm Nick Cage on camera. ‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else's, so I decided I'm going to bring it on and be ‘Cage.' ”
Cage shared his stage name was inspired by the Marvel character Luke Cage and artist John Cage, adding that he was searching for a simple, memorable name in the style of James Dean.
“I thought, well, I'll keep the name ‘Nicolas' because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an ‘h,' ” Cage explained, adding, “I don't know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did.”
He also shared that he doesn’t mind being addressed as either “Nick” or “Nicolas.”
To note, Nicolas Cage is the son of August Coppola and nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire, making him part of the famed Coppola family that also includes Sofia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman.
He has used the name Nicolas Cage throughout nearly all of his career.
