Nicolas Cage turned down the opportunity to star in one of the biggest movie franchises of all time, "The Lord of the Rings", as one of the lead roles.
In an interview with Newsweek, Nicolas Cage sat down to talk about his new horror film Pay the Ghost and his extensive film resume, including a few of the roles he’s turned down. Most notably, Aragorn in Lord of the Rings and Neo in The Matrix.
“I try to always move forward as opposed to dwelling on the past or the movies that might have happened,” he told Newsweek. “There certainly were movies that I probably would have benefited from if circumstances in my life allowed me to make them.”
Back in the late 1990s, when he was at the top of his game, he felt he could afford to turn down 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring". Arguably, it could have been the biggest role of his career.
Stuart Townsend ended up being cast as Aragorn, but Viggo Mortensen eventually replaced him.
Although Cage says he doesn’t have any real regrets in his career, he admits that movies like Lord of the Rings and The Matrix could have benefited his career if he didn’t have to turn them down.
“But the thing is about those movies, I can watch them,” he said. “I can enjoy them as an audience member. I don’t really watch my own movies. And so I genuinely do have the joy of watching these — especially with Lord of the Rings.”
But Nicolas isn’t upset with his movie choices. “I don’t really have any regrets,” he continued. “I think regret is a waste of time.”
Meanwhile, it’s not like Nicolas Cage is struggling for roles at the moment. He recently appeared in the horror flick, Pay the Ghost, and is hoping to resume his role as Ben Gates in a third 'National Treasure' movie.
