Nicolas Cage Says Christopher Nolan Won’t ‘Call Me Back’ After Turning Down Insomnia Role

Nicolas Cage has said that The Odyssey director Christopher Nolan is on the list of filmmakers who “don’t call me back” after he turned him down for a movie.

The National Treasure and Longlegs actor spilled the beans on his rocky relationship with some of the biggest names in Hollywood during an interview with The New York Times. The conversation came about after he admitted to previously telling American Hustle director David O. Russell “no” when he offered him a “good movie” a “million years ago.”

Cage is now set to star in Russell’s upcoming Madden biopic, but the actor said he’s not used to filmmakers calling him back after he’s turned them down. In fact, Russell is the only one who gave him a second chance.

“Most of them, they get their feelings hurt and don’t call you back. It’s happened a million times to me. It’s happened with Christopher Nolan, it’s happened with Woody Allen, it’s happened with Paul Thomas Anderson. They don’t call me back.”

Of Nolan’s filmography, it was Insomnia that Cage decided to pass on. For Anderson, who just walked away with Best Picture and Director awards for One Battle After Another at the 98th Academy Awards, the actor only said that it was a “very early” project.

“He’d shown me a short film with Philip Baker Hall – and we were going to do something and it didn’t work out,” he added.

Cage gave Russell props for keeping him in mind for Madden, saying that it “showed a lot of class.” That film is now set to premiere this Thanksgiving.

“Anyway, David did call me,” Cage continued, “and it showed a lot of class that he would call me back and invite me again, and I didn’t want to say no to him again because I have great respect for his talent. And it was a beautiful experience. I enjoyed working with David.”

Cage is also set to star in Prime Video’s upcoming live-action superhero series Spider-Noir. That project will swing in this week and sees the actor play a role that he said is “70 percent Humphrey Bogart, and 30 percent Bugs Bunny.”

Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).