Nicolas Cage Trivia
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50 free Nicolas Cage trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
44 free Nicolas Cage trivia questions with answers. Nicolas Cage has made more films than almost any leading man of his generation, and almost none of them are boring. He pulled his own teeth for a role, ate a live cockroach for another, won an Oscar for playing a man drinking himself to death, then spent a decade making action blockbusters and another making some of the strangest independent films in America. This quiz runs 50 questions from easy (what is his real surname, which superhero inspired his stage name, which film won him the Academy Award) to genuinely hard: which uncle directed him in Peggy Sue Got Married, how many days his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley lasted before the divorce filing, which German castle he bought and sold, and how much his stolen Action Comics #1 fetched at auction after it turned up in a storage locker. Every answer has been checked against an encyclopaedia entry on the film or the man, and each question shows its source once you have answered, so it works for a movie night, a film-buff pub round or settling an argument about the Cage filmography.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Nicolas Cage's birth surname?
Coppola
He was born Nicolas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California, on January 7, 1964, and only legally changed his name in 2025.
Q 02His stage name was inspired by avant-garde composer John and which Marvel Comics superhero?
Luke Cage
He picked a new name to avoid trading on his famous family, and it stuck for four decades before he made it legal.
Q 03Which famous director is Nicolas Cage's uncle?
Francis Ford Coppola
Through his father August, he is also a nephew of actress Talia Shire and a cousin of Sofia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman.
Q 04What was his father August's profession?
Literature professor
His mother, Joy Vogelsang, was a dancer and choreographer.
Q 05Which 1982 teen film was Cage's big-screen debut, in a small role billed as 'Brad's Bud'?
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
He was still credited under his family name at the time.
Q 06In which 1983 romantic comedy, loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, was Cage first credited as 'Nicolas Cage'?
Valley Girl
He played Randy, a Hollywood punk who crashes a San Fernando Valley party, opposite Deborah Foreman; Martha Coolidge directed.
Q 07For the 1984 film Birdy, Cage lost weight and had what done to look disfigured?
Two front teeth pulled out
The film co-starred Matthew Modine as a Vietnam veteran who believes he is a bird.
Q 08In which 1986 fantasy comedy directed by his uncle did Cage play Kathleen Turner's husband Charlie Bodell?
Peggy Sue Got Married
Turner later complained about the nasal voice he adopted for the part and asked the director whether he had really approved it.
Q 09In Raising Arizona (1987), Cage's ex-convict H.I. McDunnough kidnaps one of a set of what?
Quintuplets
Holly Hunter plays his wife Ed, a former police officer, and John Goodman began his long Coen collaboration as escaped con Gale Snoats.
Q 10In Moonstruck (1987), Cage plays Ronny Cammareri, a hot-tempered man with what job?
Baker
The role brought him a Golden Globe nomination; the film won three Oscars, including Best Actress for Cher.
Q 11In Vampire's Kiss (1989), Cage replaced a scripted raw egg by eating what for real?
A live cockroach
The film flopped but his over-the-top performance later became a fountain of internet memes.
Q 12Which David Lynch film starring Cage as Sailor Ripley controversially won the 1990 Palme d'Or?
Wild at Heart
Laura Dern played his lover Lula in the adaptation of Barry Gifford's novel.
Q 13Cage won the Academy Award for Best Actor for which 1995 film?
Leaving Las Vegas
He also took the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama for the same role.
Q 21The Family Man (2000), Cage's alternate-life comedy, is often compared to which Christmas classic?
It's a Wonderful Life
Téa Leoni played the wife he would have had if he had never left for a London internship.
Q 22In which 2002 film did Cage play twin brothers Charlie and Donald Kaufman?
Adaptation
Spike Jonze directed the metafictional comedy, and the fictional twin Donald was credited as co-writer of the screenplay.
Q 23The 2002 film about twin screenwriters centres on adapting which Susan Orlean book?
The Orchid Thief
Meryl Streep played Orlean and Chris Cooper won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar as orchid poacher John Laroche.
Q 14What is the occupation of Ben Sanderson, the alcoholic Cage plays in his Oscar-winning role?
Hollywood screenwriter
To prepare, Cage binge-drank for two weeks and studied footage of himself; Elisabeth Shue co-starred as Sera.
Q 15In The Rock (1996), Cage's FBI chemist Stanley Goodspeed breaks into which former prison?
Alcatraz
Sean Connery played the only man ever to escape the island, and Ed Harris the rogue general threatening San Francisco with VX gas.
Q 16In Con Air (1997), Cage plays Cameron Poe, an honourably discharged member of which military unit?
Army Rangers
The plane he must retake is a Fairchild C-123 nicknamed 'the Jailbird', hijacked by John Malkovich's Cyrus 'The Virus' Grissom.
Q 17What is Nicolas Cage's terrorist character called in Face/Off (1997)?
Castor Troy
The film grossed $246 million worldwide, with both actors spending most of the running time playing each other's character.
Q 18City of Angels (1998), with Cage as an angel who falls for Meg Ryan, is a loose remake of which German film?
Wings of Desire
Cage said he took the role to 'return to more serious fare' after his run of action films.
Q 19Which director cast Cage as a corrupt detective in the 1998 thriller Snake Eyes?
Brian De Palma
It was Cage's second film of 1998, after City of Angels.
Q 20Which director's 1999 New York City paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead starred Cage as Frank Pierce?
Martin Scorsese
The screenplay was by Paul Schrader, reuniting the Taxi Driver team for another night-shift portrait of the city.
Q 24In Matchstick Men (2003), Cage's con artist has Tourette syndrome and which other condition?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Sam Rockwell played his partner and Alison Lohman the teenager presented as his daughter.
Q 25In National Treasure (2004), the treasure map is hidden on the back of which document?
The Declaration of Independence
Jon Turteltaub's film grossed about $347.5 million and spawned the 2007 sequel Book of Secrets.
Q 26In Lord of War (2005), Cage plays Yuri Orlov, who makes his fortune in what trade?
Arms dealing
The film opens from the point of view of a single bullet being manufactured and fired, and Amnesty International later endorsed it.
Q 27Which poorly reviewed 2006 remake starring Cage failed to make back its $40 million budget?
The Wicker Man
Its bee-related scenes have since become some of the most-quoted clips of Cage's career.
Q 28In Ghost Rider (2007), Cage plays Johnny Blaze, who sells his soul while working as what?
Motorcycle stuntman
The film opened to more than $45 million and a sequel, Spirit of Vengeance, followed.
Q 29Which German director made Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009) with Nicolas Cage?
Werner Herzog
The film sat at 87% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, one of Cage's best-reviewed of the decade.
Q 30In Kick-Ass (2010), Cage plays an ex-cop turned costumed vigilante known by what name?
Big Daddy
His character, Damon Macready, trains his young daughter to fight crime alongside him.