Roger Ebert on Nicolas Cage

“He's a fearless actor. He doesn't care if you think he goes over the top. If a film calls for it, he will crawl to the top hand over hand with bleeding fingernails.”

“Cage is accused of showboating, but I prefer to think he swings for the fences...what in another actor would be overacting is, with Cage, a kind of fearsome intensity."

"Cage is a good actor in good movies, and an almost indispensable actor in bad ones. He can go over the top so effortlessly he rests up and makes lemonade for everybody"

"There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively." Ebert adds, "He alway seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him."

Wonderful quotes Lady Trueheart! and thank you for beginning this thread, It will be an uplifting exercise in Nic appreciation adding to it!  

From Shirley MacLaine, his co-star in 'Guarding Tess':

"Nic winks at his own intensity."

These are awesome too Lady T, you are good at this!

Thank you for clarifying that point, I agree we should stick to Nic's acting in these quotes!

This one blows my mind, a lityle bit...

"Nic chooses characters not movies"

 ~ Jon Turteltaub 2010 ~

Excellent thread Lady T!  I agree with those quotes, most emphatically! 

Lula, I read somewhere that Jon Turteltaub attended highschool with Nic and that they starred in a couple of highschool plays together.  Very cool.

Here's a quick and simple one: 

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice is my seventh film with Nic Cage - Not only a  great actor but also a good friend."  

Director, Jerry Bruckheimer

From Sean Connery, his co-star in 'The Rock':

"Every line has its own natural rhythm. The trick is - the effort is - to find it. Nic is very good at that. He has a great ear, and that makes him a good partner in acting."

Ups! Yes, you`re right, Gina. Thanks for correcting. :) And, I know, that Nic and Jon played in the "our town"-production of their highschool together. Jon got the leadpart, and Nic played "constable warren" with two lines of dialogue.

Really? I didn`t know that. Thanks for the info, Gina. :) That would be so NICtastic, if that project will come to frution soon! Let`s cross fingers for that!

Cam Giganet on filming TRESPASS (2011) with Nicolas Cage 

"On a creative level he is a dream come true"

"He is quirky, and he is funky and different, but that lends itself to so much creativity."

"Once you see someone like Nicolas Cage trying new things, taking risks, and having no judgment placed on anything that he’s trying, just trying it for the sake of exploring…. To see someone like that take the lead, you kind of get the confidence to follow in his footsteps. It was such a learning lesson to work with someone like him."