Nicolas Cage Is A Huge Fan Of This Groundbreaking Rock And Roll Pioneer: “He Was My Hero”

Nicolas Cage has long been one of the most fascinating (and highly eccentric) creators in the history of Hollywood. The actor and producer has been a pinball over the course of his career, bouncing from acclaimed performances (Raising Arizona, Moonstruck) and charmingly mainstream madness (Face/Off, Con Air) to box office blunders (Knowing, Rage). His hobbies have echoed this in an equally erratic way over the years, including a voracious enjoyment of buying real estate (which helped lead him into once-severe debt), rare comic books, expensive automobiles, and even (briefly) the skull of an exotic dinosaur.

But it’s Cage’s love of early rock and roller Elvis Presley (and his collection of Elvis merchandise) that may arguably be most interesting. Cage has long stated that Presley is one of his musical heroes, and has been able to insert that love for the man known as “The King” into films he’s starred in, such as Wild at Heart and Honeymoon in Vegas. It’s even been said that Cage was one of the few people allowed to see Presley’s Graceland bedroom after he’d passed away. This opportunity was due to a special circumstance in Cage’s life at the time.

Cage Ended Up Having A Personal (If Altogether Brief) Connection To “The King”

All Due To A Chance Meeting

In the early 2000s, Cage stated that he met Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie for the first time at a birthday party for Johnny Ramone of the famed punk rock group The Ramones, describing himself as “thunderstruck” upon seeing her. The reaction was apparently mutual for Presley, as she reportedly broke off an active engagement to get together with Cage just a few months after this meeting. The pair would marry in late 2002, but, in the way of more than a few celebrity unions in pop culture history, a divorce occurred just a few months later.

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This was rumored to be due to a variety of factors, including clashing personalities, Presley’s devotion to Scientology, and Cage’s love of Presley’s iconic father. Whatever the exact cause may have been, life moved forward for Cage, and last anyone knew, it appears his quickly busted marriage to Presley hasn’t affected his overall lasting affection for Elvis. Though when it comes to Cage’s more recent comments about his love for music, it wasn’t “The King” acting as the musically-inclined artist generating the cause of Cage’s compliments.

Elvis Isn’t The Only Musician Cage Happens To Admire

And It Includes Someone You Likely Wouldn’t Expect

Cage has previously expressed his view that “music is the highest art form,” and he certainly has the connections to back up that enthusiasm. He once helped inspire musician Tom Waits to write his song “Eyeball Kid” off of his 1999 album Mule Variations after Cage reintroduced Waits to comic books. In addition to Elvis, Cage has also referred to English singer/songwriter David Bowie as another one of his heroes. But it wasn’t Bowie, Elvis, or Waits that had Cage’s newer attentive adulation.

That honor instead goes to the famed actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, whom Cage enthusiastically recalled discovering was also a talented composer of classical music. He felt that Hopkins’ orchestrations were a reflection of his brilliantly theatrical style as an actor, which perhaps makes sense when considering Hopkins’ creative history. The Welshman began playing piano from a young age, and had originally planned on going to college to pursue music before changing direction to take up acting instead. But that didn’t mean Hopkins would fully leave music behind.

Over his career, Hopkins has scored films, had one of his works covered by Dutch violinist and conductor André Rieu, released a 2012 classical album called Composer, and even played piano in his 2019 movie The Two Popes. Thanks to a source perhaps as unlikely as the admiration of actor Nicolas Cage, more people now know that Hopkins’ range extends well beyond just the likes of Hannibal Lecter or Thor’s Marvel Cinematic Universe father Odin.