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Nicolas Cage saw himself as a member of the Corleone family in The Godfather Part III, but his uncle Francis Ford Coppola was having none of it.
Despite an impassioned plea from nephew Nicolas Cage, director Francis Ford Coppola did not cast the actor as Vincent Corleone in The Godfather Part III, according to Cage himself.
Cage took part in a recent actor’s roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter where it was asked what movie they would love to make but no one would let them. The answer Cage gave included a pivotal role in his famous relative’s third installment in The Godfather franchise. “This is a very embarrassing answer to your question, OK, because it involves family,” said Cage. “So Uncle [Francis Ford Coppola] was doing Godfather III, and I said, ‘I really think I ought to be in your movie, Uncle. I really think it’s a good idea if you would cast me. I think I could play this part.'”
The roundtable also included Andrew Garfield, Jonathan Majors, Peter Dinklage and Simon Rex, so Cage was admitting this in front of his peers. Cage continued, “He was going to cast Andy Garcia, and I said, ‘But I just see myself more as James Caan’s son, and he’s playing Sonny’s son. He’s not playing Michael’s son. He’s Sonny’s son. I just feel a little more James Caan.'”
Sadly for the actor, it wasn’t meant to be. “It just wasn’t going to happen. Nope, not going to happen,” Cage finished. “So that was a movie I didn’t get let in that I really wanted to be in. There.”
Cage, born Nicolas Kim Coppola, is related to Francis Ford Coppola through his father, August Coppola, and famously changed his name early in his career to avoid the sheen of nepotism. His choice of last name has been attributed to the Marvel Comics character Luke Cage, as the actor is an avowed fan of comics and superheroes. That fandom has also informed some of his roles, as he’s played Ghost Rider in two feature films as well as being cast as Superman in the failed Tim Burton reboot of that franchise. (Cage later voiced the Man of Steel in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.)
While he didn’t get the Vincent Corleone role in Godfather III — Coppola did indeed cast Garcia instead, who received an Oscar nomination for his performance — the two worked together earlier in their careers. The 1986 time-traveling comedy-drama Peggy Sue Got Married was directed by Coppola and starred Cage as “Crazy Charlie” Bodell, husband to the titular Peggy Sue, played by Kathleen Turner. Cage said he would only take the role if he was allowed to “go really far out with the character,” which his uncle allowed, much to the consternation of his co-stars and the studio.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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