Oscar winner Nicolas Cage is one of Americas most popular and versatile superstars. The 6-foot-1-inch actor has played the eccentric, the psychotic, the adorable and the heroic - and still he is able to demand a cool $20 million a film.
Since leaving school at 16 and changing his name from Coppola (his uncle is filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola) to Cage, the 36-year-old actor has been acting. His breakthrough film was Coppolas 1983s cult classic 'Rumble Fish'. The following year, Cage scored a hit as a disfigured Vietnam vet in Alan Parkers 'Birdy'. Other early highlights were the comedies 'Perry Sue Got Married' and 'Raising Arizona', and the romance 'Moonstruck', a film that brought co-star Cher an Oscar.
Cage got his own Oscar for a stirring portrayal of a dying alcoholic in 1995's Leaving Las Vegas. Then, to the surprise of many, he turned into an action star with hits like 'The Rock', 'Con Air' and 'Gone in 60 Seconds'.
A regular family life has eluded the Los Angeles-based actor. With a 10-year-old son, Weston (from his relationship with actress Kristina Fulton), Cage is currently in the process of divorcing actress Patricia Arquette, a subject he refuses to discuss. A connoisseur of fast cars, modern art and fine wine, he here talks about his extraordinary life and career.

What's 'Captain Corellis Mandolin' about?
I play an Italian soldier who isn't a believer in Fascism and is conscripted into the Fascist army. He gets a huge wakeup call when he realizes there is such a thing as the enjoyment of human suffering. It's based on a novel by Louis de Bernieres.

What's up next for you?
I'm in John Woo's 'Windtalkers'. John and I worked together on 'Face/Off'. It's another World War 2 drama, about a unit of Navajo Indians in the Marines who use their language to convey messages that the Japanese cant read. I play a Marine sergeant who has been shattered, both physically and psychologically, by war.

After winning the Oscar for 'Leaving Las Vegas', many thought it strange that you followed it up with three action films. After 'Leaving Las Vegas'
I was offered so many self-destructive characters that I worried he was in the process of being typecast. So I tried to make some action movies as well, pictures that I felt would make me more accessible to mainstream audiences. I know some people think I've sold out by making these films, but I don't see it this way. I tried to switch to mainstream movies and preserve some dignity and integrity. I want to do thought-provoking pictures as well as big action pictures, and so far I haven't got trapped in the independent style of movie making or trapped into doing just popcorn movies. I've been very lucky doing so many different kinds of roles. Some movies are for stimulation, others for self-examination.

Your friend, Sean Penn, didn't see it that way. He accused you of selling out your talent in pursuit of a big paycheck. I was particularly upset about Seans criticism because the day before he made his hurtful remarks (to Newsweek), he pretended to be my best friend. We went out for drinks and supper and he kept calling me his family and then the next day he stabs me in the back. In this business you get enough negativity from the press without having your friends dump on you in public.

What attracted you to 'The Family Man'?
The question it asks, What if? What if I had not become an actor when I was 16 and taken that fishing job. My pals came back with cars and cash and it was very tempting to be a fisherman and be able to buy stuff. Recently I had another what if moment. I went back to my hometown to see the house I grew up in. I walked down the street and saw some of my old neighbours. I went into the house and said hello to the people who lived there and walked through the back to the alley. This is really nice, I thought. There's a neighbourhood feeling. Why did I ever leave.

Do you like romances?
Yes, I like love stories. I'm a romantic (he asked first wife Patricia Arquette to marry him on the day he met her!). I always have been.

When your parents divorced, you were 12, and you and your two older brothers went to live with your father (Cage's mother was hospitalised with mental problems). How did that affect you?
When I was younger, I was a hothead. I said things I wish I hadn't said about my family. Just because I'm a person in the public, it isn't fair that the other people around me have to be scrutinized. So I'd rather not discuss anybody in my family, including Patricia (Arquette, his wife, whom he married in 1995. He filed for divorce in early 2000 and then withdrew the papers before she filed for divorce six months later).

So, what made you want to become an actor?
I wanted to be an actor when I saw James Dean in East of Eden. I was 14. I dropped out of high school to study acting. My first movie was 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' (most of his scenes were cut) in 1982.

What kind of film actor do you emulate?
Steve McQueen. He seemed like he did nothing but still was interesting to watch.

You have created some unusual heroes?
Yes, because I don't like perfect heroes. I like flawed characters because somewhere in them I see more of the truth.

You were also supposed to play Superman on film.
I'm a big fan of the series. I still dream of playing him. The Tim Burton film was put on the shelf due to scheduling conflicts. I remain committed to playing the Man of Steel. I'll make him a beautiful lonely freak who never fitted in and needs to do heroic acts so people will like him.

Why have you teamed up with action producer Jerry Bruckheimer so many times (on 'Con Air', 'The Rock' and 'Gone in 60 Seconds'?)
I owe a lot to Jerry. Nobody cast me in those kinds of action pictures until Jerry cast me in The Rock. And you can't be successful in this business unless a mass audience embraces you. The movie industry is all about commerce.

For 'Gone in 60 Seconds', you got your first $20 million paycheck.
I wish that actor's contracts weren't public domain. These contracts are far more intricate than they seem.

Recently you have had a few misfires, like Brian De Palma's 'Snake Eyes', Martin Scorsese's 'Bringing Out the Dead' and Joel Schumachers '8MM'.
I think the two first failed because they were wrongly sold as action fare. (The widely panned) '8MM' I was quite happy with.

Much has been written about your peculiar love for exotic animals (in his Los Angeles home, Cage has an octopus, a boa constrictor and a 6 feet lizard that eats rats) and about your passion for collecting vintage cars, art glass, comic books and model trains.
Passion is important to me. Without it, you might end up in all kinds of depressing scenarios. But being passionate isn't the same as being weird.

You used to have a wild man image.
I used to cultivate an image as a wild man. But I was never that wild or weird.

What would be the ideal life for you?
To have a home, kids, make a movie a year and live in a neighbourhood where kids can ride their bikes and have friends down the street. That would be nice.

You're also doing Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze, the team that made 'Being John Malkovich'.
I'm gaining 20 pounds to play Charlie and his imaginary twin brother, Donald. They are two sexually frustrated fat guys, who may not really be fat.

Aren't you worried about putting on so much weight?
I've talked to doctors about it, but I'm not sure how I'll behave after three months without my daily workout routine. Exercise is a huge stress release. I do it because if I don't, I start getting really paranoid. It won't be the most pleasant time for me. But I'm looking forward to work with Meryl Streep.

Aren't you working a bit too much these days?
I seem to be working a lot harder than ever before, but it doesn't faze me.' I need to find ways to occupy my time when I'm not working, so that I still have a structure to my life. I'm motivated to be happy in my work, and I want to do what I am doing. I think I'm in a good place now. I'm less stressed than I've ever been.

You're not afraid of over-exposure?
No. Someone asked Humphrey Bogart how he made so many great films, and he said, I just kept working. I never stopped working. I'm driven to get things done. I feel like I'm in my prime, and I'm not always going to be able to, so I'd like to make an abundance of films now. If I keep doing them, I hope one of them is going to be really great.

If there is an actor's strike this year, what will you be doing?
I'll probably write, race my car, and ride my motorbike. For me acting and racing are therapeutic. The more you're concentrating on staying alive, the less you can think about things that might be bothering you. When I'm acting, I'm meeting it head on and utilizing the feelings.

Did becoming a father change you?
I used to have a temper, but I don't any more. Before I was a parent I was more of an anarchist. I didn't care. I wanted to shake things up. After I became a parent, I calmed down and became less interested in making a punk statement. Now I'd like to make a movie about a single father because my son is the most important relationship in my life. He has opened up all these other emotions.

Are you concerned that being a child of a celebrity might be difficult for him?
Yes, I don't know if I'm doing the right thing just talking about him. Maybe I shouldn't even say his name.

Would you like your son to follow in your footsteps?
I have a secret dream that my son will go into the business as well.

This is contrary to the feelings of most actors.
I don't understand why actors keep saying they don't want their children in the business. It's been so exciting and rewarding for me. I think those people who try to discourage their children from becoming actors are afraid of being upstaged by them!

How would you describe yourself?
I was the outsider growing up (in Long Beach, California), the weirdo kid who wasn't picked to go on the team. I still feel uneasy in the world and most comfortable on the movie set, where acting could be called a kind of therapy. Its the one place I know what I'm meant to do and where I feel I'm good at what I do.

You aren't the usual handsome Hollywood leading man, so what qualities do you think made you into a star?
Lucky for me, the public tends to respond more to the Everyman than the dream man. Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford are both good examples of classic Everyman types. I think people like to go to movies to feel like they could be people like us.