Nicolas Cage on Being a Girl Dad and Making a Movie at the Same Time as Cousin Sofia Coppola (Exclusive)

As Nicolas Cage approaches a milestone birthday, he’s set out some goals for himself — including being even more of a girl dad.

ET’s Nischelle Turner spoke with Cage over Zoom ahead of Dream Scenario hitting theaters nationwide on Nov. 22 and the 59-year-old actor shares what he’s got up his sleeve after he celebrates turning 60 in January. He says he hasn’t gotten to that age where he feels like he’s done it all, which is why he’s determined to rectify lagging in certain departments.

“Oh, I certainly can’t think in those terms like I’ve done it all,” he says. “I’ve always had the mantra that I’m a student. I’ve viewed my path and filmmaking as a student. I would never call myself a master. I always have something to learn, always want to learn. So, 60 is coming up for sure, so my goal is to read more. I’ve been lagging in that department. I’d like to read a book a week. I want to spend more time with my daughter.”

It was back in September 2022 when Cage and his wife, Riko Shibata, welcomed daughter August Francesca Coppola Cage. This is the first child for Shibata, while Cage is already a dad to Weston, 32, and Kal-El, 18, from previous relationships. Being a new dad again has brought Cage some much-needed perspective.

“I’m taking stock of what’s really important, you know?” he says. “Maybe not make quite as many movies … it’s profound [being a new dad], yeah, totally a new experience. I love it.”

For now, Cage is busy promoting the Kristoffer Borgli-directed comedy fantasy Dream Scenario, a film about a hapless family man who finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. Cage plays a biology professor, Paul Matthews, who is appearing in other people’s dreams.

Given the plot, it begged the question — what’s Cage’s most memorable dream or nightmare?

“I have so many of these recurring dreams, really, it’s the plane crash, you know?” he says. “I see it and you’re there and it feels so real, the nightmare. Everyone’s screaming. It really makes your heart go out. I think the dreams are kind of like little gifts to give you compassion about what’s going on around you.”

As Cage was filming in Toronto, so was his famed cousin, Sofia Coppola, who directed the new film, Priscilla. And get this — Cage’s uncle (and Sofia’s father) Francis Ford Coppola also was filming Megalopolis in Atlanta.

Quite the trifecta.

“I think it’s lovely. I think it’s wonderful. She’s so gifted, so talented,” says Cage when asked about Sofia helming the Priscilla Presley biopic that’s now in theaters.

“It was interesting because we were both in Toronto at the same time filming and she was filming her picture and I was filming mine, and I did text her and said, ‘You know, it’s kind of incredible that your dad is over there making a movie in Atlanta at the same time you’re making a movie and I’m making a movie in Toronto. This is great. This has got to be good luck for all of us.”

Dream Scenario is now in select theaters and opens nationwide Nov. 22.

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