Nicholas Cage

Nicholas Cage (http://collider.com ())

Who would've thought that a hero could be someone not in the history books? My hero is Nicholas Cage because he is inspirational, determined, and courageous. Born on January 7^th, 1964 in Long Beach, California, his real name is Nicholas Coppala but he changed it to Nicholas Cage when his acting career took off.

Nicholas Cage is inspirational to me because he never gave up even though everyone said he couldn't do it. Nicholas Cage was born into a talented family. His grandfather directed "The Godfather" 1 and 2, his grandmother was nominated for an academy award, and his mother was a dancer so Cage seemed destined for an acting career. When Cage was a young boy he had a very rough childhood, because his mother was always depressed so he spent a lot life going in and out of mental hospitals. Plus his dad resented him because he thought he was another man's child. He inspires me because he went through what he did and overcame it all.

Nicholas Cage is so determined as an actor. His father was very skeptical about Cage becoming an actor and tried to discourage Cage whenever he was able to but Cage took the criticism and went for it anyway. So Cage convinced him to give him a part in his next movie. After asking again and again his Grandfather finally gave him a chance. After that Cage went on to star in many movies after that.

Nicholas Cage was so courageous because he twisted whatever role he got the way he saw fit. Cage used method acting to play in a movie, which means he would act like the character he was playing off set so he could play it better on set. When he played a drunk man off the street in "Leaving Las Vegas" he got drunk and videotaped himself so he knew how to speak and act. That made "Leaving Las Vegas" his biggest movie role of that time.

So in conclusion Nicholas Cage is inspirational, determined, and courageous and that is why he is my hero. To some people he may just be an actor and to others a person but to me he is an inspiration.