Seth Rogen says Nicolas Cage once accused him of stealing a character after they chatted about a possible appearance in The Green Hornet.
The Pineapple Express star revealed that Cage was keen to play a character in the 2011 superhero flick, but that he had some pretty unusual ideas about who that character should be. You can see how it went down here:
Speaking on The Howard Stern Show last year, Rogen said firstly Cage suggested playing a bald man who had tattooed hair on his head, before deciding he didn’t want to in case he ended up trying that look in real life. Fair enough.
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He then suggested a different concept in the form of ‘a white Jamaican guy’ - something Rogen said immediately ‘set off a lot of alarms’ to him and the team.
Despite initial reservations about the idea, Rogen and Sony chief Amy Pascal invited him to her house to further discuss the role - but Cage had other ideas and came in full character.
Rogen explained: "We show up at the house and within 60 seconds we were all seated in the living room as he stood in front of us reciting a monologue in a Jamaican accent.
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"We were all just like, what's happening? A monologue, I should add, that was not in the script - nor did it have anything to do with the script. At which point I was like, I don't think he's read the script! There was no indication he had any idea what film we were trying to make, other than it was called The Green Hornet and there was a villain in it."
As the above may suggest, Rogen and Pascal weren’t exactly bowled over by the performance, and a short while later Cage made his excuses and left.
Now, fast-forward a year or so and, as you may remember, Rogen’s former frequent collaborator James Franco played a white rapper in Spring Breakers.
And Rogen claims when Cage saw this he thought the character had been a rip-off of the one he’d presented.
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Rogen continued: "We got a call, like, Nic Cage wants to talk to you guys.
"We thought it was about the movie, but we sit down and right away he's just like, 'Did you tell James about that meeting we had? The Jamaican meeting?' We were like, ‘No, I don't know.’
“He was like, 'Because that guy in Spring Breakers, was that based on the character I did for you guys?' I was like, ‘No, absolutely not.’ I think it was actually based on a Florida rapper. He very clearly didn't believe me, that was apparent."
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Shortly after Rogen’s story did the rounds last year, Cage responded - and he didn’t actually deny it outright.
Cage told Entertainment Weekly: “I like Seth. He’s a funny guy and clearly a good storyteller. I wish him luck with his book.”
Topics: Nicolas Cage, Seth Rogen, Film and TV
Claire Reid