How Coppola Became Cage with Zach Schonfeld

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Zach Schonfeld, a freelance writer, journalist, and critic based in New York. He contributes to  Pitchfork, Paste Magazine , and other publications. He was formerly a senior writer for  Newsweek , where he was on staff for five years. His first book,  24-Carat Black's Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth  was published in 2020 as part of the  33 1/3  series. His latest book — entitled  How Coppola Became Cage  — is the focus of this episode. In 1982, a gangly teenager named Nicolas Coppola made his film debut and changed his name to Nicolas Cage, determined to distance himself from his famous family. Once he achieved stardom as the rebel hunk of 1983's  Valley Girl , Cage began a career defined by unorthodox risks and left turns that put him at odds with the stars of the Brat Pack era.  How Coppola Became Cage  takes readers behind the scenes of the beloved cult movies that transformed this unknown actor into an eccentric and uncompromising screen icon with a wild-eyed gift for portraying weirdos, outsiders, criminals-and even a romantic capable of seducing Cher. Throughout  How Coppola Became Cage  Zach Schonfeld traces Cage's rise through the world of independent cinema and chronicles the stories behind his career-making early performances, from the method masochism of  Birdy  to the operatic torment of  Moonstruck  and abrasive expressionism of  Vampire's Kiss , culminating with the astonishing pathos of  Leaving Las   Vegas . Drawing on more than 100 new interviews with Cage's key collaborators — including David Lynch, Martha Coolidge, John Patrick Shanley, and Mike Figgis —  How Coppola Became Cage  offers a revealing portrait of Cage's wildly intense devotion to his performances and his creative self-discovery as he drew on influences as far-flung as silent cinema and German Expressionism. These were all crucial ingredients in the creation of a singular acting style that rejects the limits of realism. Join in as host Michael Shields and Zach Schonfeld celebrate an actor that Ethan Hawke describes as “the only actor in the history of the form to really change the form” while invoking David Lynch to describe Cage as “the jazz musician of actors,” in an episode that is as Nic Cage as they come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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