Whatever you say about Nicolas Cage, he always goes for it, no matter what movie he’s in. New release long legs Although the film’s marketing directly excluded him, pre-release hype surrounding the footage and his bizarre appearance garnered a lot of attention. And playing a serial killer who targets families, Cage used parts of his own family history to influence his performance.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Cage recalled watching his mother, Joy Vogelsang, apply Noxzema Cold Cream as a child. The then two-year-old remembers her “really quickly turning around and looking at me.” [putting on] Cold cream. White. [it] It was just really scary.” In the film, Longlegs has a similarly horrifying white complexion to that moment with Cage’s mother, but there’s no clear motivation. The actor doesn’t have a specific reason for why his character is so white, but he’s mentioned a “strange connection” between the killer and the color. “He says it’s just a power he knows, and you don’t question it too much,” Cage says. “He knows it when he sees it.”
Performance-wise, Cage has previously called the role “deeply personal” due to his mother’s lifelong struggle with schizophrenia. JuneHe told EW about the way she speaks in poetic terms, something he also adopted in Longlegs. For Cage, the character is a tragic one because he’s “at the mercy of these voices that speak to him.” Ahead of filming in early 2023, he recorded his performance on his phone to perfect the character’s “rhythm and melody.” […] When I got to the set, everything was already perfectly prepared and it was like playing a song or music.”
Cage’s interview also includes: long legs If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t skip past the banner below, as it contains spoilers.
In the film’s climax, Harker, played by Maika Monroe, finally confronts Longlegs, who has been giving dolls imbued with satanic energy to the families of girls born on certain days of the week. It is eventually revealed that he targeted her as a child, but survived thanks to the intervention of her mother. Their “reunion” and Longlegs’ suicide in front of her is what drew Cage to the film. The two actors had not socialized before that point, which he believes was intentional on the part of director Osgood Perkins, who was really looking forward to the “explosive” meeting between their characters.
It turns out there was an added meta layer to the scene, with Cage professing to be a fan of Monroe and her horror films. It follows and watcher. Like some of the audience, It follows It was the first time he had seen her, and he called the film “one of my favorites in the genre.” He also cheekily drew parallels between his adoration for the performer and Longlegs’ long-standing obsession with Harker, calling her “a kind of heroine” whose character finally had the pleasure of meeting her.
Before that point, the film tried not to film Longlegs directly. Instead, he was glimpsed through other angles or reflections. Perkins explained that the killer had made such an impression on Harker as a child, and that it was to show how she came to be that way, even though she had repressed the memory. He there, In a sense, yes, Perkins said, but he’s “not quite there.” [also] “That’s exactly right.”
According to pre-release buzz, Cage is putting on a pretty unsettling (and free!) performance. long legs It’s enough to make people flock to see him. After seeing him in so many roles over the decades, it’s nice to know he can find new ways to scare people.
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