After years of being more highly praised as a meme than as an actor, it seems Nicolas Cage is finally getting back into some good roles. His newest movie Pig was released in theaters on July 16th, with both critics and fans giving it rave reviews.
The film follows Cage’s character–a truffle hunter named Rob–who is on a quest to find the beloved pig that was stolen from him, but it becomes something much more than that, leaving many audience members surprised when they shed tears throughout the course of the film. Many fans have been expressing their shock at Cage taking on such a serious role, as his more recent castings include a now-canceled Amazon Prime TV show about Joe Exotic and a movie set to release in April 2022 in which Cage plays himself, called The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
Pig currently boasts a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cage’s highest-rated film alongside Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in which he voices Spider-Man Noir. Some of his other well-known films are notable for less positive reasons, such as the National Treasure series or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
However, Cage is by no means a stranger to starring in highly rated films. He and John Travolta play enemies–and each other–in the 1997 film Face/Off which boasts a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, Cage stars in a total of ten films that have a 90% or higher rating on the site. But, with most of his successful roles being either from 90s films or voice acting in children’s films, it is a pleasant surprise to see him take on such an uncharacteristically serious role and receive such high praise for it.
Of course, the film does have other actors in it besides Cage. Most notably, Cage’s boss Amir is played by Alex Wolff, who is becoming famous in his own right. He starred in notable films such as the Jumanji series, Hereditary (2018), and My Friend Dahmer (2017). But, he got his start back in 2005 when he and his older brother starred in the Nickelodeon movie The Naked Brothers Band, which then became a TV series that ran from 2007 to 2009.
The titular role, however, goes to Rob’s beloved, unnamed pet pig. The pig who played her lives at Music Meadow Farm, which is near the film’s location in Oregon, and her name is actually Brandy. She has been discussed a great deal in interviews with Cage, but also with both the movie’s director and co-writer. She apparently was picked because of how cute she is, only trained for three days, highly motivated by carrots, and bit Cage on quite a few occasions. In one interview with GQ, Cage also discussed how he did a bit of method acting with Brandy, saying that he had nightmares in the past about losing his Maine coon cat, Merlin, and simply channeled those emotions while performing.
Pig is currently in theaters, and you can watch the trailer for it here:
