Nicolas Cage has a little friend in a cage that has a bit of an attitude problem.
The national treasure that starred in the “National Treasure” series not only spends his days making his acting comeback but enjoying a somewhat modest life at home. He is married to Riko Shibata and she is actually his fifth wife.
When he’s not acting, Cage spends a lot of his time at his home in Las Vegas. Not only does he share the space with his wife, but also with a number of different animal friends. One of which is Merlin, his 4-year-old Maine Coon that he absolutely adores. He also has a cat named Teegra that he loves, but just not as much as Merlin.
It’s also worth noting that he spends time with his two grown sons — Weston and Kal-El. In most ways, his cats seem to just provide him with good company. On the other hand, Nicolas Cage has a pet crow that is entertaining, but a little feisty.
The crow’s name is Hoogan and he lives in a geodesic dome. During an interview with the LA Times, Cage spoke about his bird’s willingness to call him out.
“When I leave the room, he’ll say, ‘Bye,’ and then go, ‘A—.’ Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth,” Cage said. The best part of it all?
Similar to parrots, crows can talk using their syrinx to mimic different words that they’ve heard in the past. That means either Cage is walking around calling himself an ass, or he’s got someone else calling him that. The birds only mimic, after all.
As for declaring himself a goth, that may just be very on-brand for the actor. He is about to play the infamous Dracula in Universal’s upcoming horror movie “Renfield,” after all. It doesn’t get any more goth than Dracula. Owning a black crow as a pet is just one way he brings out his goth side. His upcoming movie will also star Nicholas Hoult in the title role. It will take place in the present-day, rather than in 1897. Ryan Ridley (“Rick and Morty”) wrote the screenplay.
Nicolas Cage Doesn’t Like Being Called an Actor
Despite working as an actor, Nicolas Cage does not prefer to go by that title.
He’s an Academy Award winner known for great performances in “Face/Off,” “Adaptation,” and “Leaving Las Vegas,” amongst others. Despite making quite the impact with some of his roles, Cage doesn’t prefer the term “actor.”
“For me it always implies, ‘Oh, he’s a great actor, therefore he’s a great liar.’ So with the risk of sounding like a pretentious asshole, I like the word ‘thespian’ because thespian means you’re going into your heart, or you’re going into your imagination, or your memories or your dreams, and you’re bringing something back to communicate with the audience,” Cage said, according to Variety.
