How a cobra motivated the actor in intensifying his fitness regimen
I think Ghost Rider is one of the most unique mythologies in the comic book universe," says Nicolas Cage, who brings the classic Marvel comic book character to life in Columbia Pictures’ "Ghost Rider." As the devil’s bounty hunter, the Ghost Rider’s supernatural thrills are a perfect match for Cage’s intense and engaging persona. As one of the Hollywood’s most avid comic-book collectors, whose interest in graphic novels has become legendary, Cage has a wide-ranging knowledge of the character. "He’s a complicated character who makes a decision to sell his soul to the Devil, but he does it out of love, not out of greed or personal ambition. To me, that is really rich material to play with. This scary-looking guy really is a hero."
Cage recently talked about "Ghost Rider" on the following interview. Looking very trim with short black hair, Cage wore a rather large cowboy hat during the interview and seemed very excited about his current undertaking of Johnny Blaze
What do you think about
the trends of comic book
movies?
Well, I’ve always thought that the comic book film would be wonderfully entertaining for audiences, because it taps into the fantasy world more than just straight up violence. And I had no doubt when the first Batman came out, because of the title and the character, that was going to be a sensational – a very exciting movie to watch, combined with the technology that we have today, that you can take these fantasies that many of us grew up on and really bring them to the big screen. You have marvelous entertainment. Comic books to me are modern mythology, and so it taps into all sorts of psychological and soulful levels for audiences in a positive way, in a fantasy element as opposed to blood and guts, gore fests.
How have your worked with director Mark Steven Johnson on developing the character and what input did you have?
I was concerned that this wasn’t sort of your typical hero. I wanted to approach it from the point of view of someone who is beleaguered by this contract of selling his soul to the devil. So if you were somebody that was experiencing a great deal of pain, like in a dental chair you try to relax by listening to dentist’s music or things like that, so I’m trying to play Johnny Blaze more in that direction than the hard drinking and smoking bad ass. I’m playing him more as someone who, he’s made this deal and he’s trying to avoid confronting it, anything he can do to keep it away from him.
Does the stunt riding play into that?
Yeah. I think anything like that is a form of escape. Also, the stunt riding keeps him connected to his father, who’s passed away. So there’s a version of being able to keep that relationship going when he’s jumping, because that’s what his father taught him.
How did you prepare physically, mentally or perhaps even spiritually before you took this role?
Something happened to me before we shot "Ghost Rider" that made my fitness regimen more intense. I was in Africa shooting "Lord of War," and we went to this place in the middle of the desert to shoot for about a week. But there weren’t a lot of people there. And I was stuck there and I was driving home in a van, there was a cobra in the road. And I said, Let’s back up; let’s look at it. So we backed it up and the cobra got up and attacked my car. And I was shocked, and I never got that image out of my head. And then shortly after that, I started eating less portions. I stopped imbibing as much, I didn’t go out as much, didn’t have as many cocktails. And I just kind of worked out a lot more, and got ready for this role. So I think it had something to do with this cobra.
A near death experience?
Something like that. Or just, he had this look in his eyes like, `You got a lot of responsibility don’t blow it. I could take you right now, but I’m here to warn you. Get your act together.’
(Opening across the Philippines on Feb. 14, "Ghost Rider" is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.)
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