‘Longlegs’ Director Details One Specific Talent/Skill That Nic Cage Has That No Other Actor Possesses

Longlegs has been the latest addition to Nicolas Cage’s recent multi-year comeback, as the $22.4 million it made in its opening weekend was Cage’s first live-action film to open with over $20 million since 2012’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

While Nic Cage’s status as an A-list star has ebbed and flowed over the decades, what has not is his acting ability, as Cage has always been one of the most naturally talented and committed actors in the business.

That natural talent is so acute, in fact, that Longlegs director Oz Perkins recently told a story about Cage being so good at his job that he knows the loudest he’s able to yell and the quietest he’s able to whisper without messing up the audio.

“When we were making Longlegs, the sound guy came over to me one day. He was a really technical sound guy and he had microphones hidden everywhere,” Perkins explained. “His name is Ben. Ben comes up to me a couple of days into Nic being on the set, and he’s like, ‘Oz, I’ve never seen anything like it.'”

“When Nic is mic’d and I’m watching the dials, when Nic goes big, he goes *right* to the line. Anything more, a decibel or two over that, and it would be hard to use. And then when he goes down, he goes soft and his whispering and he’s barely talking, he goes right to the line. Antying passed that line, you wouldn’t be able to use it. Be he knows where the lines are… It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

Alongside Cage in the titular serial killer role, Longlegs also stars Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood, Alicia Witt, Michelle Choi-Lee, Dakota Daulby, and Kiernan Shipka.

Here is the official synopsis and trailer for Longlegs, which is now playing in movie theaters, via NEON:

“FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.”

A few years ago, when Cage was promoting his action comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, BroBible’s Post Credit Podcast had the opportunity to interview the legendary Academy Award winner.

Filmmaker Oz Perkins, son of famed actor Anthony Perkins — who starred as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic film Psycho — has also directed the movies The Blackcoat’s Daughter, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, Gretel & Hansel, and his upcoming adaption of Stephen King’s short story The Monkey, which will hit theaters next year.

Watch the official trailer for Longlegs, which has grossed over $57 million, passing 2019’s Best Picture-winning Parasite to become the highest-grossing movie in the history of NEON, below.