Nicolas Cage confesses he changed his name

We’ve known Nicolas Cage as, well, Nicolas Cage since the early 80s, but he said he legally became Nicolas Cage just last year.

Cage, who is the nephew of iconic director and producer Francis Ford Coppola, started acting in 1981 under the name of Nicolas Coppola, but used his stage name of Cage in films such as “Valley Girl,” “Peggy Sue Got Married” and “National Treasure,” according to his IMDB filmography.

However, his legal name was still Coppola until 2025.

In an article published by Variety this week, he said he took the Cage stage name from comic book character Luke Cage and composer John Cage to avoid claims of nepotism for being the filmmaker’s nephew.

“No. I am Nick Cage. I changed my name legally last year. I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera. ‘Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be ‘Cage,’ ” he told the publication.

“I was looking for something like ‘James Dean’; I was looking for something short and sweet. I thought, well, I’ll keep the name “Nicolas” because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an ‘h.’ I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did," Cage went on to explain.

Other members of the Coppola family include Sofia Coppola, Talia Shire, and her son Jason Schwartzman, People magazine reported.

Cage has a couple of films on tap, including this week’s “Spider-Noir” on Prime Video and MGM+, as well as “Madden,” in which he plays the late NFL coach and broadcaster, John Madden, People reported.

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