Editing Nicolas Cage (section)

==Acting style and reception==
=== Nouveau Shamanic ===
 {{Stack|[[File:Nicolas_Cage_at_Lincoln_Memorial.jpg|right|thumb|Cage on the set of ''[[National Treasure: Book of Secrets|National Treasure 2]]'']]|{{Quote frame|"The fine, ever-elusive art of Nouveau Shamanic"|quote=The fine, ever-elusive art of Nouveau Shamanic|author=Will Ashton|align=right|source=[[CinemaBlend]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-18|title=Upcoming Nicolas Cage Movies And TV Shows: Joe Exotic, Willy's Wonderland, And More|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2556806/upcoming-nicolas-cage-movies-and-tv-shows-joe-exotic-willys-wonderland-and-more|access-date=2021-03-09|website=[[CinemaBlend]]}}</ref>}}}}
Nouveau Shamanic is a style of acting developed by Cage. Cage has said it is to increase one's imagination without restraint, in avoidance of experiencing the sense of being ingenuous.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whalen |first=Andres |date=August 7, 2019 |title=Nicolas Cage had different 'Wicker Man' ending in mind, offers 'nouveau shamanic' acting tips in new interview |url=https://www.newsweek.com/nicolas-cage-dream-wicker-man-ending-nouveau-acting-tips-new-interview-1453126 |access-date=March 7, 2021 |website=Newsweek}}</ref><ref name="nyt"/>
{{Blockquote|text=The process itself is about: How do you augment your imagination in a healthy way? So that you can believe you're these characters… You don't feel like you're acting, you feel like you're being.|author=Nicolas Cage|source=}}

In the film ''[[Vampire's Kiss]]'' Cage moved from [[method acting]] to "Nouveau Shamanic." The scene where Cage recites the alphabet to his psychiatrist was a result of acting out of impulse.<ref name="nyt" /> ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' showcased the physicality of Nouveau Shamanic.<ref name="nyt" /> ''[[Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance]]'' is a display of how the method leads to impulse decisions fueled by an energy one could only garner naturally.<ref name="film">{{Cite web |last=Trussell |first=Jacob |date=July 3, 2018 |title=Nouveau Shamanic: The Enigmatic Style of Nicolas Cage |url=https://filmschoolrejects.com/nouveau-shamanic-the-enigmatic-style-of-nicolas-cage/ |access-date=March 8, 2021 |website=Film School Rejects}}</ref> Cage was asked if any of his numerous pets influence his acting, to which he replied "The cobras, definitely. They would try to hypnotize you by going side to side, and when I did ''Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'', that's something my character does before he attacks. Animals are fun places to get inspiration."<ref name="nyt" />

=== Reception ===
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| quote = "In Cage's hands, cartoonish moments are imbued with real emotion and real emotions become cartoons. Everything – from individual scenes down to single lines of dialogue – feel like they have been embraced as opportunities for creation. Cage is usually interesting even when his films are not. He is erratic and unpredictable; he is captivating and he is capricious. He is a performer. He is a troubadour. He is a jazz musician."
| source = —[[Luke Buckmaster]], ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref name="Buckmaster" />
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According to ''[[The Guardian]]'' film critic Luke Buckmaster, "any casual observer can see that Cage is entertaining, charismatic and wildly flamboyant." Attributing it partly to the "well-cultured" background of Cage's family, Buckmaster said the actor "is clearly attracted to grotesque characters and is celebrated for his wild and unhinged approach to them. He has the presence of a leading man, and the eccentricities of a character actor." Actor [[Ethan Hawke]] stated in 2013 that Cage is "the only actor since [[Marlon Brando]] that's actually done anything new with the art", crediting him for taking film audiences "away from an obsession with [[naturalism (theatre)|naturalism]] into a kind of presentation style of acting that I imagine was popular with the old troubadours."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1fq1h6/i_am_ethan_hawke_amaa/cacojck/|author-link=Ethan Hawke|first=Ethan|last=Hawke|title=I Am Ethan Hawke – AMAA|agency=[[Reddit]]|date=June 5, 2013|access-date=July 19, 2021|archive-date=March 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210319014520/https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1fq1h6/i_am_ethan_hawke_amaa/cacojck/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Film director [[David Lynch]] described him as "the jazz musician of American acting."<ref name="Buckmaster" /> Many critics have accused Cage of [[overacting]].<ref name="Buckmaster" /> Others, including Cage himself, have described his intentionally extreme performances as "mega-acting."<ref name="d4cjN"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2017-01-31/nicolas-cage-takes-over-the-alamo/ |title=Nicolas Cage Takes Over the Alamo: Watch the mega-acting star perform Edgar Allan Poe |last=Whittaker |first=Richard |date=January 31, 2017 |website=Austin Chronicle |access-date=March 14, 2019 |quote=Yet what came out most was how Cage, whose reputation is for what has been dubbed mega-acting, takes his work incredibly seriously. |archive-date=February 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226235703/https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2017-01-31/nicolas-cage-takes-over-the-alamo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After the actor's series of mainstream-marketed thriller films during the late 1990s, [[Sean Penn]] told ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1999 that Cage was "no longer an actor" but "more like a performer."<ref name="6qg2h" /> Despite this, in his speech after winning the Oscar for his performance in ''[[Mystic River (film)|Mystic River]]'', Penn described Cage's performance in ''[[Matchstick Men]]'' as one of the best of 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/076-1/ |title=Oscar acceptance speech of Sean Penn |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |date=February 29, 2004 |access-date=May 14, 2014 |archive-date=June 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610214744/http://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/076-1/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the 2010s, a growing number of critics described Cage as one of the most underrated actors of his generation.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2013/10/16/criminally-underrated-nicolas-cage/|title=Criminally Underrated: Nicolas Cage|magazine=Spectrum Culture|first=Alex|last=Peterson|date=October 16, 2013|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323203417/https://spectrumculture.com/2013/10/16/criminally-underrated-nicolas-cage/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/in-defence-nicolas-cage-2265796|title=In defence of Nicolas Cage|work=[[NME]]|first=Alex|last=Flood|date=March 18, 2018|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323203424/https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/in-defence-nicolas-cage-2265796|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.screengeek.net/2018/01/07/why-nicolas-cage-is-secretly-the-greatest-actor-ever/|title=Why Nicolas Cage Is Secretly The Greatest Actor Ever|publisher=ScreenGeek.net|first=Frank|last=Palmer|date=January 7, 2018|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323203417/https://www.screengeek.net/2018/01/07/why-nicolas-cage-is-secretly-the-greatest-actor-ever/|url-status=live}}</ref>