Nicolas Cage is mistaken for Nick Cave so often it feels like a daily occurrence
“Only one letter separates us — G. Nick Cave, Nic Cage,” the actor told the musician when they first met
By Larisha Paul
Nicolas Cage‘s day isn’t complete unless he gets mistaken for Nick Cave at least once. In a recent interview with the Guardian, the actor revealed how frequently people swap his identity with the musician’s and detailed one of their first encounters with each other.
“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by where I’m not mistaken for Nick Cave,” Cage said. “People also say: ‘Hey, Nick, you were great in The Hunger,’ which is this great David Bowie movie. I do remember that Cave was very nice. We were at an animal sanctuary, I believe – I think Sealy Animal Hospital in Texas – and he was terrific. I said hello and wanted to shake his hand. I said: ‘Only one letter separates us – G. Nick Cave, Nick Cage.’”
Cave has some mistaken identity stories of his own. In 2022, he responded to a fan question on his Red Hand Files blog about whether he’d ever met Cage. “People mix me up with Nicolas Cage all the time,” he said. “Like, I’ll be going through customs and the customs officer will look at my passport and say, ‘Happy to have you with us, Mr Cave. Loved you in Face/Off’. Or whatever. Sometimes it can be a bit of a pain in the neck, but you get used to it.”
Cave’s recollection of their first encounter is similar, too, except in his version, they were at the Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, Australia. “Suddenly, a security guy in a dark suit with an earpiece and shades steps out of nowhere and asks me if I’m Nick Cave. I say, ‘Well, yeah.’ He says, ‘Could you follow me, please,’” he said. “So I follow the security guy into a small private room, adjacent to the main bar. Sitting there is Nicolas Cage. He is wearing a pork-pie hat and holding a didgeridoo. Nicolas Cage shouts, ‘Only one letter separates us!’ and leaps from his seat and eagerly pumps my hand.”
Down in Australia, Cage’s name is also tied to a hard rock band, Nicolas Cage Fighter. “I think they’re terrific,” he said. “Their songs are empowering. The lyrics are all about taking ownership of your mistakes, never being a victim, figuring out how you can fix your problems.”