5 Actors I Can’t Believe Keep Getting Work (#1)

Between my friends and I there has been a lot of debate about this list and whether or not certain actors or actresses would or should be on here. The #1 actor on this list wasn’t even on my original list, but someone mentioned him and after thinking about it and doing the research, he not only made the list, but ended up taking top ‘dishonors’. Here he is….#1 Nicolas Cage.

WHY I CAN’T BELIEVE HE KEEPS GETTING WORK:

Who thought this hair was a good idea?

It is not because I think he can’t act, he proved he can by winning an Oscar for Best Actor in “Leaving Las Vegas” (of course that doesn’t mean much if Sylvester Stallone can win the same award). Nor, is it that his movies are unsuccessful (even though he has lost Hollywood studios $94 million dollars total in the last 10 years). Instead, it is more that I can’t believe he keeps getting work in the type of roles that he does. He keeps getting headlining roles in action movies where he is playing someone that is charismatic and cool, but he just ends up looking crazy (especially with that mullet in “Next” and “Bangkok Dangerous”) and the audience ends up hoping whatever disaster he is trying to avoid will somehow end his existence in the film.

Not only that, but he keeps getting booked again and again as a lead action star. He has done 14 films since 2004 and 9 of  those have been action movies and he never makes a believeable action star. He had some success with the awful “National Treasure” films, but that is because they were essentially children’s movies and children’s movies are a very bankable genre right now. If he tries to do an adult action film, he has much lower sucess, “Next” and “Bangkok Dangerous” lost studios a total of $87 million dollars. “Ghost Rider”, which is part of the comic book movie boom, only made the studios $6 million dollars more than it cost to make because the film was just so awful and Nicolas Cage does not make a great superhero (except in “Kick-Ass” which he played the most enjoyable character I have seen him play in years). As soon as audiences see his name scroll across the credits of an action movie preview, I hear so many groans and even heard someone say, “Why won’t he just go away?” during a “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” preview the other week.

Nicolas Cage has worn out his welcome in Hollywood and it couldn’t come at a more unfortunate time in his career, when he filed for bankruptcy two years ago (which is really hard to believe because he gets paid an average of about $10 million a movie). Now, instead of being able to ride his fame and fortune that came from his good movies, he is forced to continue to alienate his fans by doing any movie that he possibly can, which seems to be every crappy action film that comes across an executive’s desk. I can see the executives looking at the script and going, “Hmm, we could make some quick money off of this crappy movie. Who is a big name star that is really desperate right now?”

Hey, that's me!

HOW HE CAN REDEEM HIMSELF:

First, he needs to become financially sound and maybe get a real job for a little while. He’s still a big name actor, much to the chagrin of most audiences out there, and he has the acting skills to be successful. Once he is financially sound he can be a little bit more picky about the films that he does. He needs to continue to do films like “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” where he plays a self-destructive character much like he did in “Leaving Las Vegas,” or “Lord of War” where he plays a kind of sleazy, sardonic arms dealer. Those were great roles for him because they weren’t all-out action.

He would also do really well being in comedies or dramas where he plays more of an every-man type role. He does not look like a suave-debonair action star and he doesn’t sound like one either. He looks like an every day average joe and audiences would be able to relate to him pretty easily through those type of roles. “Adaptation” was fantastic and he played that every-man type role. It was a low-budget quality film by Charlie Kaufman

Somehow, some way, Hollywood seems to think he is an action star though. It may also have to do with his uncle being Francis Ford Coppola though and maybe he cries to to him that he wants to be an action star and studios won’t book him as one. So, Francis hands them some money under the table and boom…Nicolas Cage…action hero!

I don’t think he will take my advice though if his new movie “Drive Angry” (in 3D for some reason) is any measure of that. I will leave you with this awesome plot summary from RottenTomatoes:

“Nicolas Cage headlines this high-octane 3D thriller about a convicted felon who breaks out of prison to prevent the cult that murdered his daughter from sacrificing his infant granddaughter on the night of the full moon. With just three days to go before the ritual killing, Milton crosses paths with knockout waitress Piper, who agrees to help him by stealing her ex-boyfriend’s mean, cherry-red muscle machine. Between that high-performance car and Milton’s own black ’71 Challenger, they may have a shot at taking down the cult and saving his granddaughter’s life. But charismatic cult leader Jonah King isn’t running scared, because when hell is unleashed on Earth, he will be the most powerful man alive. Unfortunately for Milton, the cops are quickly closing in, and a savage serial killer known only as “The Accountant” is looking to have some bloody fun on the open roads. With each passing minute, Milton’s last shot at redemption is fading, so he teams up with Piper to defeat Jonah’s legions of loyal disciples, avenge the death of his daughter, and prevent the crazed cult leader from plunging the entire world into infernal darkness.”