Nicolas Cage became a fan favorite all over again when fans got to know the real reason he rejected The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix.

SUMMARY

Nicolas Cage puts his kids above everything else, and thus turned down massive roles in movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix because they would have meant being away from home for too long.
He was considered for the role of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.
Regarding The Matrix, while the exact role Nicolas Cage was considered for remains unclear, speculation suggests it might have been Keanu Reeves’ role as Neo.

Nicolas Cage is all about his family. The actor puts his kids above everything else, even turning down massive roles in movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix because they would have meant being away from home for too long. For Cage, that wasn’t worth it. He chose to stay close to his kids, preferring bedtime stories over Hollywood blockbusters.

Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze.
Why Nicolas Cage Rejected The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings?

During a conversation with People surrounding The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Nicolas Cage felt compelled to make things clear. While he indeed portrays a version of himself in the film, he emphasizes that this character is far removed from his true persona.

In the movie, his on-screen self may not embody the ideal father figure, but in reality, Cage takes immense pride in his role as a loving and devoted dad. He said,

“First and foremost … there’s no version of Nick Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children,–There’s no version of Nick Cage that didn’t put family first over career. So there is a huge disparity between that Nick Cage in Massive Talent and the Nick Cage sitting in front of you right now”

The Lord of the Rings
He then made a bombshell revelation and admitted passing up roles in mega-franchises like The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings just to stay near his son, who was still a young kid at the time. He said,

“I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”

Even though he’s a famous actor, Nicolas Cage puts being a dad before everything else. He has three kids from his past marriages, Weston, Kal-El, and August Francesca. In 2021, he married artist Riko Shibata, making it his fifth time tying the knot, and they welcomed their daughter recently after.

It’s hard to picture anyone else in the iconic roles of The Matrix or The Lord of the Rings. However, it’s confirmed that Nicolas Cage was seriously considered for one of them. In fact, he was nearly cast as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings. Speaking of the movie to Newsweek, he said,

“There certainly were movies that I probably would have benefited from if circumstances in my life allowed me to make them. The thing is about those movies, I can watch them. I can enjoy them as an audience member,—And so I genuinely do have the joy of watching these—especially with Lord of the Rings.”

Regarding The Matrix, while the exact role Nicolas Cage was considered for remains unclear, speculation suggests it might have been Keanu Reeves’ role as Neo.

Imagining Cage in these iconic roles sparks wild speculation about how things could have turned out if he had accepted.

Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix films
Nicolas Cage also admits that he has no regrets despite passing on these iconic roles. He now enjoys these films as an audience member, as much as the fans. And if given the chance to do it all over again, he would still choose his children first. He made quite a few movies in 2023, and fans are happy to see him back and waiting for all the things he has in store for them.