The Star Quentin Tarantino Says Made a Name From Roles They Weren’t Meant To Play

Quentin Tarantino is known as one of cinema’s most knowledgeable directors. His films are packed with references to older movies, creating a style that’s unique but deeply rooted in film history. He often mixes inspiration from the past with his own bold ideas, making each project feel like a love letter to cinema.

Tarantino has always been outspoken about the performers and filmmakers he admires. He’s praised everything from action thrillers like Tony Scott’s Unstoppable to classic films that he says influenced him personally. Fans are always curious about which actors impress him the most, and one name that stands out is Nicolas Cage.

Cage is famous for his fearless and sometimes unpredictable career. He’s starred in iconic films like the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona, David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, and his uncle Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish. More recently, he’s had a career resurgence with films like the intense horror-thriller Mandy and the emotional drama Pig.

Even though Cage has had some missteps along the way—like Ghost Rider or the 2006 remake of The Wicker Man—Tarantino admires him for how he embraces risk. Speaking to critic Jim Hoberman, Tarantino said he had never seen another actor “make a career out of being miscast and rise to the occasion.”

Cage’s willingness to take chances is what makes him stand out, and directors like David Lynch have called him the jazz musician of actors because of his unpredictable energy. Cage isn’t slowing down anytime soon. He’s preparing for Spider-Noir, a live-action Marvel series on Prime Video set to premiere on May 27.

In the show, Cage brings a Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse character to life in a 1930s noir version, playing a struggling private investigator in Manhattan. Later this year, he’ll reunite with Face/Off director John Woo for Gambino, a $40 million crime biopic where he portrays the infamous New York mob boss Carlo Gambino.

Meanwhile, Tarantino has been exploring his own new directions. After canceling his planned tenth film, The Movie Critic, he has stepped back into acting for the first time in decades. He recently completed filming a major role in the French drama Only What We Carry, directed by Jamie Adams.

Tarantino plays John Percy, an aging publisher helping a friend live in isolation at a Normandy chateau. The cast also includes Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella. Tarantino is not just acting, though. He’s also writing and producing the Netflix project The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, directed by David Fincher.

The film has a $200 million budget and will see Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role. For Tarantino, Cage represents exactly what he values in actors: fearlessness, creativity, and the ability to turn even the wrong role into something memorable.

Their careers show two sides of the same coin: one director constantly exploring new ways to honor cinema, and one actor willing to take risks no matter how unlikely the role seems.

Tarantino and Cage remind audiences that the magic of movies often comes from stepping outside comfort zones and trusting the process. Fans are excited to see what both will do next, whether it’s Cage in gritty new roles or Tarantino returning in front of the camera.

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