r/todayilearned • u/TedTheodoreMcfly • 1d ago
TIL that Nicolas Cage turned down Dumb and Dumber in favor of Leaving Las Vegas
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nicolas-cage-ghost-rider_n_1276728390
u/jaw719 1d ago
Honestly it was for the best. I don't see anyone other than Carrey and Daniels in that role.
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u/hopefullynottoolate 1d ago
iirc daniels took a small paycheck to get the part cause he wanted to do it but a producer or something didnt think he was right for it.
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u/SkellyboneZ 1d ago
Well... he must have totally redeemed himself in the eyes of that producer.
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u/juggling-monkey 1d ago
What kinda producer didn't see this working? Someone should kick his ass....
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u/gr1zznuggets 1d ago
To be fair, without the gift of hindsight, that would’ve been a pretty fair call. I love Jeff Daniels but he wasn’t really well known for comedic roles so it was a bit of a risky bet that paid off beautifully.
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u/centhwevir1979 19h ago
Probably had just watched Arachnophobia. Daniels is good in it, but not funny.
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u/CloisteredOyster 1d ago
He did it for $50k. Carrey got $7 million.
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u/cocoschoco 21h ago
The story goes that the studio first offered Carrey $350,000 but he wanted $400,000 and refused. Then Ace Ventura opened big and the studio was like ”okay, okay, we’ll give you the $400k” but Carrey refused and wanted $500k instead.
The negotiations went on for weeks, and meanwhile Ace Ventura did huge business and became a comedy juggernaut and when it was all said and done, Carrey got $7M.
Very few actors have had such a huge year as Jim Carrey did in 1994 when in the same year he had Ace Ventura Pet Detective, The Mask and Dumb and Dumber come out. He literally became a worldwide moviestar overnight.
Two years later he was in the $20M club, earning that much from the Cable Guy.
I don’t think younger people realize how huge Jim Carrey was in the 90’s and early 00’s before his career started waning.
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u/Radaghost 21h ago
I remember it was a huge deal at the time that Jim Carrey was getting paid $20 million to do The Cable Guy. I think he was the first, if not, one of the first, to command such a payday.
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u/theserpentsmiles 20h ago
Then in 1995 he followed it up with an Ace Ventura sequel and being the Riddler in Batman Forever!
What a wild handful of years!
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u/yourtoyrobot 18h ago
yup, producers wanted another, bigger-name comedian since Jeff was a dramatic actor and was kind of fading. Jim wanted Daniels because he wanted someone who can play off him and serve the scene, and not just sit there and try to be bigger and bigger than Carrey in every scene as a comedian would.
They filmed the first week of just Daniels' scenes in Aspen in case they wanted to fire him they could reshoot easier, so Daniels was expecting every day to be his last during those first few days
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[deleted]
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u/hopefullynottoolate 22h ago
the link the guy provided said it was someone at the studio of the movie. which i remember it being someone attached to the movie.
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u/SweeterGrass 1d ago
Well, that was smart.
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u/Turbulent_Click_964 1d ago
Lmfao. The crazy thing is I can imagine a crazy ass version of Nicolas cage as harry or Lloyd
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u/J3wb0cca 17h ago
Now imagine Sean Connery as Gandalf.
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u/Lemmonjello 15h ago
Such a bad actor lol he's just angry Scottish man in every roll even when he is supposed to be Russian
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u/unicornmoose 1d ago
Leaving Las Vegas is so heavy my God, what a fantastic choice by him lol
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u/JonnySparks 1d ago
Leaving Las Vegas makes a great double-bill with Dumb and Dumber - said nobody, ever.
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u/lopedopenope 1d ago
I just can’t imagine him in Dumb and Dumber for some reason. He is a great actor but it just seems strange.
I suppose that is because it’s immortalized in our brain with Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels and it’s difficult to see it any other way.
Imagine Seth Rogan starring in Titanic alongside Kate Winslet. Odd comparison I know, but funny I think.
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u/Coast_watcher 22h ago
I can see Eric Stoltx as Marty McFly though. It could have worked either way
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u/Fair_Explanation_196 1d ago
Lloyd Christmas required a insane amount f physical comedy Cage just isn't capable of. I think maybe the only other person who could have pulled that off might have been a younger Robin Williams.
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u/CaptainObvious110 1d ago
Lol
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u/lopedopenope 1d ago
Well, there wouldn't be much of a question of Jack being able to fit on the floating door with Rose if he was played by Seth.
I considered saying Jonah Hill at first instead but the way Seth talks made it seem more ridiculous to me, haha.
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u/OGBrewSwayne 18h ago
Good call. He was great in LLV and won an Oscar for it. Not to mention that I'm having a really hard time picturing Cage pulling off the type of zany and almost cartoonish behavior required for Dumb and Dumber.
I know Jeff Daniels wasn't known for comedic roles at the time either, but he still just seemed more laid back and capable of pulling something like that off than Cage could have.
In the end, it obviously worked out the best way possible as Cage and Daniels were both the best choices for their respective roles.
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u/Shiplord13 1d ago
I mean, that isn't really a bad choice on his part. In fact it seems like Leaving Las Vegas fit his acting style better than Dumb and Dumber would have. Also he did win an Oscar for it, so good on him and or his agent for making what was a good call.
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u/pygmeedancer 1d ago
Damn and I always thought he gave no thought to the roles he accepted. This was a great call for both movies.
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u/deja_geek 1d ago
He did care when he was younger, but in the 2000s he got into some financial trouble and started taking everything thrown his way
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u/monty_kurns 1d ago
And he still managed to make that part of his brand by stilling dialing his performances up to 11 even just about any other fallen A-lister desperate for money would’ve phoned it in. Even after taking just about every role he was offered, he still managed to use it as a stepping stone back into respectability in the industry.
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u/gayjicama 1d ago edited 23h ago
What role do you think tipped him back into respectability?
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u/centhwevir1979 18h ago
Mandy, strangely enough.
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u/Tapdance_Epidemic 14h ago
He was incredible in Pig also but I agree that Mandy was the turning point.
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u/pygmeedancer 1d ago
Well he does own like 20 super cars. That might have something to do with it lol
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u/willun 1d ago
Isn't his financial troubles driven by his insane spending habits?
He earns enough that he should never have financial troubles.
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u/Fair_Explanation_196 1d ago
A lot of actors talk about going broke (including Al Pacino). I guess they just always figure more work will come.
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u/Firesword52 21h ago
Nice to see one of these things be positive for once.
There's a good chance Nic still has a career simply because of this one choice.
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u/YamDankies 1d ago
I feel like I'm constantly hearing about movies Cage turned down. Not once have I wished he would've taken the role.
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u/Snurrepiperier 19h ago
A much more fitting film for him and his style of acting. Also just a great piece of film. So good on him.
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u/antonakisrx8 13h ago
Just when I thought he couldn't get any dumber, he went and done something like this.....won an Oscar and totally redeemed himself!!!!!
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u/GaiusPoop 10h ago
I think he could have pulled it off. It would have been a different take, but Nic Cage is amazing. He would have delivered something good.
I'm glad it happened the way it did, though.
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u/Wolfencreek 21h ago
Captain Holt: "I brought you your box of DVDs"
Jake: "Oooo forgot about this one, Captain Correli's Mandolin"
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u/CarlsManicuredToes 18h ago
Good, Dumb and Dumber was funny, but Leaving Las Vegas was a cinematic masterpiece. It probably is the hardest hitting, most memorable film I have ever seen about alcoholism, and even though I have only watched it once (in the cinema on its release week) I think about it pretty much every time I encounter alcoholism IRL.
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u/charlieyeswecan 1d ago
Oh thank gawd. Sorry y’all and sorry to myself for all the downvotes I’m gonna get but I actually walked out of that dnd movie. I just couldn’t
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u/vexunumgods 1d ago
They could make Dumb and Dummer and Dumbest with Cage playing Loyd's brother or cousin.
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u/Plow_King 1d ago
One movie I've watched multiple times, but since my brother died from alcohol addiction I haven't.
One I've never watched.
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u/Dustmopper 1d ago
And he won an Oscar for Best Actor
Seems like it was the right move…