The Two Movies Nicolas Cage Claims Are His Best Performances

Nicolas Cage, the star of movies such as "Con Air," "National Treasure," and "Willy's Wonderland," is equal parts adored and lambasted for his long career of unforgettable performances. His newest film, "The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent," wherein he stars as himself, releases in theaters on April 15, 2022. Hilariously, perfectly, it seems to be a chaotic homage to his remarkable niche in the public's collective consciousness. The film also features notable actors such as Pedro Pascal ("The Mandalorian," "Game of Thrones") and Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother," "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle").

As part of the press circuit for his new film, Cage took to Reddit to answer fan questions in an incredibly successful Ask Me Anything (AMA) that received approximately 26,000 comments. Although not all hopefuls in r/movies had their curiosity sated, the ones that did were given the at-once both gently unhinged and deeply studious answers only Nicolas Cage alone could ever conjure.

Redditor u/DeathCatForKudi was one of the lucky few who had their questions answered in Nicolas Cage's Reddit AMA. They asked, "What is your favorite character that you've ever portrayed?" Using the official u/lionsgate account, Cage replied, " ... 'Pig' is my favorite performance of mine, and I think that movie, along with [Martin] Scorsese's 'Bringing Out The Dead' are arguably my two best movies as a whole." He repeated and elaborated on this sentiment in a comment replying to u/TommyLeeBrown, which asked if he'd recently seen his work on "Leaving Las Vegas," saying, "... I think 'Leaving Las Vegas,' 'Pig' and 'Bringing Out The Dead' are my three favorite performances of my own body of work." Cage explained that he hadn't seen "Leaving Las Vegas" as of late, but added that he aspires to make films of such a high caliber, specifically independent dramas with smaller budgets such as his recent film "Pig."

Considering that Cage rescued a kidnapped pig in the aforementioned 2021 movie, played a traumatized paramedic dealing with mental health issues in 1999's "Bringing Out the Dead," and stepped into the shoes of a depressed alcoholic screenwriter in 1995's "Leaving Las Vegas," it's clear that the actor has an affinity for playing the gently unhinged — as teased above — in many of his movies.