Nicolas Cageremembered the time he disappeared into his Face/Off character, Sean Archer, and how it scarily affected his reality, in a new interview. The talented actor, 62, said he “lost it” while filming a scene where his character is in prison and pretending to be Castor Troy in the 1997 thriller.
“At one point, during like, ‘I’m Castor Troy, I’m Castor Troy.’ I got lost. And if you look at the movie, you can see it. I’m like, ‘Who am I? Is this real? Am I in trouble? Am I in prison?’ And I really lost it,” Cage said during an appearance at New York Comic Con in New York City on Oct. 10, PEOPLEreported.
Cage added that his acting experience has helped him avoid similar experiences with his movie characters over the years.
“Thankfully, that doesn’t happen to me anymore. That was early on in my work. I think I’ve gotten control of it because I’ve developed my craft more,” he explained.
Later in the conversation, Cage mentioned Face/Off directorJohn Woo and the helpful feedback he gave him during the filming of the blockbuster.
“Sometimes when I’m thinking and I’m really in my character, trying to figure out where I’m gonna pull the energy from, you know, going to the abyss and bringing back the fire to play the part, I’m like slouched. And [Woo] would be like, ‘Back straight. Keep your back straight.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, sorry, John.’ He wanted to make sure that I had really good posture,” he said.
Face/Off, which also starsJohn Travolta,Joan Allen andMargaret Cho, is about an FBI agent and a terrorist who have surgery to swap their faces. Back in 2022, Cage said he was still “wowed” by the almost 30-year-old film.
“I looked at Face/Off again, which I was really wowed by. I think that movie’s aged beautifully,” he told Insider.
In 2021, a Face/Off sequel directed by Adam Wingard was announced by Deadline. Since then, Wingard departed the project, and the film is still in development.
This story was originally published byParadeon Oct 25, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred
