Nicolas Cage has taken full credit for his character’s prosthetic nose in the 1989 film ‘Never on Tuesday’.
The 55-year-old actor has opened up about playing the cameo role of a "sleazy guy" driving a Ferrari in the 80’s American comedy, and revealed it was his idea to wear the "physical deformity" because the movie’s director, Adam Rifkin, gave him full creative control.
He said: "The whole thing [was my idea], yeah. The character was just some sleazy guy who wanted to pick up a girl in a Ferrari, and that wasn’t so interesting to me. So I came up with a concept: This character had a physical deformity. He looked like a freak; long nose, bullied as a kid, called ‘Pinocchio’ in the schoolyard.
"His father felt bad for him, bought him a nice red Ferrari to make him feel good. He’s lonely, and so when he sees these people on the side of the road, he wants to help them and see if they’re hurt. I started screaming, ‘Pinocchio! Pinocchio!’ [in the scene], but they cut that out. And I just got back in my car and drove right away.
"That’s the whole character, all in 16 seconds. That, to me, is interesting! I wasn’t gonna be some guy in a swanky jacket with gold medallions, ‘Hey baby, get in my car.’ How many times have we seen that?"
And Cage insisted it is every actor’s dream to hear the words "go for it" on set if they’re starring in a cameo role.
He told Vulture: "If I’m in a cameo and I’m not getting paid, just let me do whatever I want and make some of my experimental visions come true.
"They said ‘go for it,’ the three most beautiful words any actor can hear on a set. And I’d do it again, by the way. I’d do it again, if someone offered me a cameo and gave me free rein to explore. I’d do it again in a second."
Nicolas Cage takes credit for prosthetic nose in Never on Tuesday
