Nicolas Cage could have played Aragorn in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He also received an offer for Matrix. But he turned both down, as there was something more important to him than his career.
Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself in Massive Talent, where he struggles with his career after missing out on several big film hits. His relationship with his daughter Abby is poor. So Cage accepts an offer in the film to fly to Mallorca and earn a million dollars.
But in reality, the actor’s priorities in life are completely different. As Nicolas Cage told People Magazine in an interview on April 19, 2022, he turned down two major projects in the 1990s – Lord of the Rings and Matrix – for the sake of his family.
Thus, the actor and father of now three children clarified: “First of all… in reality, there is no version of Nick Cage that does not want to spend time with his kids. There is no version of Nick Cage that does not prioritize family over career.“
The shooting of Lord of the Rings and Matrix would have required the actor to be away from his family for an extended period.
So he declined the projects. “Because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand or Australia for three years, because I wanted to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact,” he explained.
In hindsight, Nicolas Cage does not regret his decision. In another interview with Newsweek, he spoke about the rejected roles.
The actor stated that he feels no regret for rejected projects – it’s simply a waste of time.
He tries to look forward instead of thinking about what happened in the past, even though he is sure he would have benefited from projects like Lord of the Rings or Matrix.
More about Nicolas Cage can be found here with our colleagues at Moviepilot: Nicolas Cage’s botched appearance in the biggest superhero disaster of 2023 has simply astonished him
He further shared in the interview with Newsweek that he still enjoys the films. Because even though he is not seen in the two blockbusters, he now simply enjoys them as a viewer:
“I don’t really watch my own movies. And so I really have the pleasure of watching these [films] – especially Lord of the Rings.”
Another actor, however, massively regretted turning down a role in the famous sci-fi blockbuster Matrix:
Will Smith talks about one of the worst decisions of his career: “Why didn’t you do Matrix?”
