Nicolas Cage praised for 'legendary' reason why he changed his name

How would you feel if one of the biggest names in Hollywood wasn’t actually their real name?

Pretty shocked I’d bet. Well, hold on to your hats because Nicolas Cage isn’t Nicolas Cage.

It's hard to imagine him with any other name, however, like numerous other aspiring actors, Cage decided to change his name when entering the industry - and for a good reason too.

The Longlegs star - who was born as Nicolas Kim Coppola - explained in an interview with Wired in 2023 that while he was working on the teenage comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, he was subjected to annoying comments because of his given name.

And even if you are big film buff or a causal cinema-goer, then the name Coppola will no doubt be ringing a few bells.

Nicolas Cage's name isn't actually Nicolas Cage (Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

Cage is the son of August Coppola and Joy Vogelsang and is the nephew of famous filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola - who most famously directed The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker's Dracula - to name a few.

So fair to say, the actor's cast mates had a blast making jokes at his expense.

He said that while he was on set, people would joke that they ‘love the smell of Nicolas in the morning’, in reference to Apocalypse Now.

"It made it hard to work and I said 'I don't need this'." he said.

So he took it upon himself to switch out his name for Cage, which was inspired by the Marvel comic book character Luke Cage and John Cage, a 'avant garde' composer.

However, people online loved his choice, with one calling him a 'legend'.

While another said: "Nicolas Cage changing his name to Nicolas Cage is the most Nicolas Cage thing ever."

A third responded: "As a nerd art major the fact that he not only knows who John Cage is but named himself after him and Power Man made my stupid little heart so happy."

And a fourth said: "He refused to ride on the coattails of Francis Ford Coppola and let his talent speak for itself. What a lad."

The Face/Off star went on to elaborate about his name change in an 2014 interview with The Talks: “I had to reinvent myself. I am still legally Nicolas Coppola, but I am Nicolas Cage. I love my family and all of their accomplishments, but as a young actor going into casting offices, I couldn’t get that off of me.

"I had to focus on the character and the audition, and there was pressure because of my name.

“As soon as I went into the casting office under a new name and they didn’t know that there was a connection and I got the part, I was like, ‘I can really do this.’

"I felt liberated. It gave me the freedom to become what I wanted to be in my dreams.”