Nicolas Cage channelled his dad for Dracula, now his mum for serial killer film Longlegs
- In Longlegs, actor reckons he may have found ‘a constructive place to put my memories of my mother’ and her struggle with mental illness
When Nicolas Cage first read the script for Longlegs and considered playing the titular serial killer, he knew exactly where he had draw his inspiration from: his mother.
“Not that she was satanic,” Cage clarified in a recent interview, but he said witnessing her struggle with mental illness throughout his life was something he needed to process.
“In my approach to try and get more personal with my film performances, I’ve been trying to find a constructive place to put my memories of my mother,” the actor said.
Cage said the connection to his mother was so strong – particularly how he envisioned the character’s body language and way of speaking – that he remembers hearing her voice early one Christmas morning while rehearsing lines to himself.
“Everybody else is getting ready to open presents and whatnot, and I’m doing this very dark character and trying to infuse it with love,” he recalled.
The experience of making Longlegs, which opens in North American cinemas on July 12, was ultimately a cathartic one for the Oscar winner. “Gosh, I channelled my dad for Dracula and I channelled my mother for Longlegs. What does that say about my childhood?” he said, laughing.