Nicolas Cage explains why he isn’t too much into the word actor, and has stated what he prefers to be called instead. Good to know if you want to meet him.

If you ever meet Nicolas Cage please don’t call him an actor. The Hollywood superstar prefers this alternative instead.

Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Cage confirmed his preference when Colbert quizzed him on why he doesn’t like the term ‘actor’. “What I was saying was: I see acting as storytelling. It’s trying to get to the truth of character. The first actor in Europe was someone called Thespus.

“What happened there, in Greece, was that he broke free… and started telling a story truthfully. For me, acting is trying to find the truth of a story. Now what’s interesting is that, literally, the word actor means hypocrite. I don’t want to be thought of as a hypocrite. Sorry if that sounds pretentious.”

Instead, Cage shared that he identifies with the word ‘Thespian’ much more as it derives from the Greek actor Thespus. Good to know, for anyone who plans to meet Nic Cage in the future then.

In the same interview, Cage would also confirm his five favourite Nicolas Cage movies. These were: Pig, Mandy, Bringing out the Dead, Bad Lieutenant, and Joe. These are undoubtedly some of the best movies of his career, while Nicolas Cage is often regarded as one of the best actors (sorry, Thespians) of his generation.