Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage has revealed that he legally changed his name last year and is now officially known as “Nick Cage.”
Speaking to Variety, the Oscar-winning actor said he decided to fully embrace the Cage identity both professionally and personally.
“I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year,” he said. “I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera.”
Born Nicolas Kim Coppola, Cage said he wanted to step away from the shadow of the famous Coppola family dynasty.
“‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be ‘Cage,’” he added.
The actor said he chose to keep the first name “Nicolas” because it was given to him by his father, although he joked about the French spelling of the name, which often leads people to incorrectly add an “h.”
Cage previously explained that his adopted surname was inspired by Marvel character Luke Cage and avant-garde composer John Cage.
“I decided, I don’t need this, and I changed it to Cage,” he earlier told Wired, describing the name as “short and sweet.”
Despite the legal change, the actor said he is comfortable with fans referring to him as either Nicolas Cage or Nick Cage.
More read, Spider-Noir trailer: Nicolas Cage battles inner turmoil
The actor is currently preparing for upcoming projects including the series Spider-Noir and the NFL biopic Madden.
