부산대학교 도서관

This chapter focuses on Nicolas Cage’s odd appearances in two largely forgotten low-budget films: the teen sex comedy Never on Tuesday (1989) and the critically panned neo-noir Deadfall (1993). In Never on Tuesday, Cage appeared in a brief cameo as a strange man with a rubber nose, creating a character so bizarre that it became a topic of viral internet fascination thirty years later. In Deadfall—directed by his brother, Christopher Coppola—Cage gave a chaotic, unwieldy performance seemingly inspired by Andy Kaufman’s belligerent alter-ego, Tony Clifton. Cage essentially went rogue in Deadfall, to his brother’s great frustration and bewilderment. This chapter chronicles the stories behind each film and argues that both films are a revealing glimpse into how Cage thinks about the push-and-pull between creativity and commerce. When appearing in low-stakes, low-pay projects, he feels emboldened to pursue his wildest ideas. Never on Tuesday and Deadfall are both relatively straightforward genre exercises—one a teen comedy, the other a neo-noir—blown off their axes by eccentric, scenery-chewing Cage performances.