[言葉]我喜歡「戲劇家(thespian)」這個詞(相較於演員 Actor)，因為戲劇家意謂著你深入內心、深入想像力、深入記憶或是夢境，然後你帶回某些東西與觀眾們交流，我想這更像是徵集想像力，容我大膽直言，更像是薩滿教。

過去薩滿會做的，是進入想像力的翱翔，從中尋找能夠幫助其村莊的解答，我喜歡以這樣去看待(表演)，即便聽來全然愚蠢荒謬，但我喜歡這樣的想法，以更自然且無斧鑿痕的方式。
─尼可拉斯·凱吉

言葉

I like the word thespian because thespian means you’re going into your heart, or you’re going into your imagination, or your memories or your dreams, and you’re bringing something back to communicate with the audience. I think it’s more like recruiting imagination. Dare I say it, it’s more like a shamanism.

What early shamans would do is go into flights of imagination to find answers to help their village. I like looking at it like that, with the risk of sounding completely absurd and ridiculous. I like the idea of it being something a little more organic and less artificial.
─Nicolas Cage

出處訪談：(16:10)

Nicolas Cage (“Pig”) and Vicky Krieps/Mia Wasikowska...

對於常被指責其表演風格「太過火(over the top)」，他的回答是：

當他們這樣對我說時，我會回答：「喔，你告訴我界線(top)在哪，然後我會告訴你我是不是太過了。」

When they say that to me, I say: ‘Well, you tell me where the top is and I’ll tell you whether or not I’m over it.’”

※按：後面有解釋他是蓄意如此為之。