How ‘Longlegs’ Harnessed the Enigmatic Memeification of Nicolas Cage So Perfectly

What makes for a good celebrity meme is not down to an exact science. It could be because of their droll expression courtside at an NBA game (as seen by Adele in 2022) or because they radiate a specific eccentricity. The latter is the case for Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage.

Cage is no stranger to playing roles outside the typical lead actor milieu. While some of his roles wade into the eclectic or “kooky” side, including his latest as serial killer Longlegs in Oz Perkin’s Longlegs, an impressive amount of his filmography is grounded in compelling dramatic performances. Despite all this and winning an Academy Award for his work on Leaving Las Vegas, some still question Cage’s credibility as an actor. 

A considerable part of it results from the “memefication” of Cage. While “memes” are a massive part of internet culture, often to make light of a serious or uncomfortable situation, they can frequently create caricatures of its sources of laughter, which seems to be the case for Nicolas Cage. While his eccentric personality and roles like Cameron Poe in Con Air can lead to the next internet sensation, it’s important to distinguish between performance and internet projection. 

Nicolas Cage isn’t just an amusable presence on screen doling out silly, one-dimensional performances. He’s a galvanizing on-screen presence with a long, textured filmography filled with multi-layered and diverse performances that often get overlooked because of Internet memes. It’s not a conscious effort on behalf of the Internet to cause this to happen. It just does. Unfortunately, when discussing an actor like Cage, it becomes harder to pass the hurdle of a “camp” performer and overly exaggerated when he’s more than those two categories. 

Most recently, he plays serial killer Longlegs in Oz Perkin’s Longlegs. His performance in the psychological horror is one of utter fascination. He’s not on screen for longer than a few seconds at a time for most of the film; when he’s not on screen, he haunts the narrative. He cultivates dread even when he’s not there. His absence and presence utterly permeate the film. He’s always there even when he’s not. His Longlegs is the stuff of nightmares. It’s also the kind of performance that is hard to pull off. To not veer off too much into ridiculous camp territory when the film calls for 70’s psychedelic, satanic panic abject horror. Cage is perhaps one of the very few who could not only pull off a convincing performance while also looking like a demented rag doll but also keep you waiting for over two hours until the payoff finally comes. 

And yet, it’s not these larger-than-life performances that genuinely define an actor like Nicolas Cage as one of the greats, but some of his more muted roles. His more sweet and soft roles. From his role in Moonstruck as the hopelessly in love Ronny Cammareri to mystical angel Seth, who falls in love with Meg Ryan in Brad Silberling’s City of Angels, Cage has long since proven his range as an actor. He is an actor who is hard to pin down, which probably explains this unconscious need to flatten him down to an Internet meme. It’s easily digestible for mass consumption when he’s anything but that. 

Cage is undefinable, making him more of a target for Internet lore. But he’s more than the average Internet meme. He’s more than the average accusations of lackluster acting. He’s the kind of actor so rarely seen on modern screens. Whose presence and versatility surpass generic type casting. Whose filmography is filled with unforgettable performances that range from softly romantic, camp vampiric comedies to a dubiously accented Southern convict holding up a stuffed little rabbit while bombs go off in the background.  Bewitching actors with the ticket entry to one of their new films.  

It’s probably why using him as promotional material for Longlegs resulted in one of Neon’s most successful releases yet. With mere flashed images of a dolled-up Cage as Longlegs and short tidbits of audio recordings of that eerie voice, Neon shot up to a cumulative global gross of $47.3 million. 

(featured image: RLJE Films)