We know that Nicolas Cage does not do one dimensional when bringing his characters to life on the screen. Deivering nuance and ambiguity to the roles he plays is a particualr talent of his. Villains are conflicted, victims of circumstance, have good hearts but have lost their way, make good in the end or maybe not; heroes find themselves in moral dilemmas, or get pulled or tempted into darker scenarios and don’t fulfill the archetype. Cage can elicit sympathy for a character in the midst of a despicable act, or have you wanting the hero to do the wrong thing in order to do what is right, he often plays against the stereotype and stretches the walls of the box, sometimes smashes it wide open, not only in terms of interpretation but in style.

In short, Nic Cage characters are often intriguing, conflicted and ambiguous figures, layered and multidimensional, never black and white, but shades, and when speaking at the recent Trespass Press Conference at Toronto International Film Festival, Cage himself hinted that his portrayal of a diamond dealer in upcoming Joel Schumacher Trespass is going to be no exception.

Kyle Miller is husband to Sarah (Nicole Kidman) and Father to Avery (Liana Liberato) in a materialistically successful family, but a family filled with intrigue and deceptions, all of which play into an intense home invasion hostage scenario around which the film is centered.

In a recent press conference at the Toronto International Film Festival, Cage revealed more about his character:

“Voice is one of the tools of film acting. Any chance I can get to play with it, I’m going to jump on. I wanted Kyle Miller to be somebody that would, in your mind, be the last person that could rise against this untenable situation he finds himself and his family in. So one of the ways to do that was to make the voice just a little bit [different.] I say that he’s sexually confused. He’s someone that you wouldn’t expect to defend himself and his family in that situation, so I wanted to play with that.

I wanted to show that someone that speaks in a way that might be fragile could still surprise you, could still be tough, could still take unexpected chances and risks. The only way I wanted to confirm that idea is I added a little line where I said to Ben Mendelsohn’s character, “I’m worth more dead than alive.” What that means is he’s not afraid to die. If you can take me out, maybe I can solve all this for my family because I am worth more dead than I alive. So that was another way to demonstrate that he was not afraid.

I like counterpoint. I think of acting as music. Any kind of new sound with a voice, any kind of surprise I can give you, any kind of surprise I can give you, any counterpoint I can give you to keep you guessing is what I’m going to go for.

I wanted to show that he is the last person that you might think could be tough in those circumstances but he is. Not that being feminine doesn’t mean you can’t be tough. That’s the point, that you can be tough. So I’m trying to break down stereotypes and I guess archetypes and play a character that is surprising.”

Check out the whole press conference below:

Check out the Trailer and this intense clip to see Nicolas Cage in action in Trespass!

We can’t wait to see Nic in this role in Trespass, which opens 14 October in the US, and anticipate that this film will be as gripping, scary and compelling as 8MM, his last collaboration with Joel Schumacher.

Are you looking forward to this movie?

Can you think of other Nicolas Cage roles where he has played ambiguous or conflicted characters?

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