Nicolas Cage’s childhood was ‘plagued with mental illness’

Already a father to sons Weston, 31, and 16-year-old Kal-El (from two different relationships), this isn’t the actor’s first rodeo. Now a dad to August Francesca Coppola Cage, he may be reminded of his own upbringing. Born in Long Beach, California, on January 7, 1964, Nicolas’s parents might not have envisioned how successful their son would become. His dad, August, was a comparative literature professor, while his mother, Joy Vogelsang, was a dancer and choreographer.

Passing away in June 2021, Cage opened up about his mum’s troubles with her mental health.

Cage shared: “She was plagued with mental illness for most of my childhood.

“She was institutionalised for years and went through shock treatments.

“She would go into these states that lasted for years. She went through these episodes of poetry – I don’t know what else to call it.

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“As it may be prevented through the use of antipsychotic medicines and extra support.”

While schizophrenia “had some impact” on Nicolas, he added: “For me, acting was a way of taking destructive energy and doing something productive with it.

“Instead of turning it on myself or on somebody else, I put it on film and created characters to express anger or express sadness.”

Nicolas Cage stars in Windtalkers, which airs on ITV4 at 9pm on Monday, September 12.

“She would say the most amazing things, beautiful but scary. I’m sure they had an impact on me.”

Described as the “hardest part” of his childhood, Cage recalled that he was “quite young” when he visited his mum in the “institutions”.

“There was a long hallway we had to walk down to see Mum, past people grabbing at us,” he recalled.

“At the end of it, she was always there, sitting, waiting… She never wanted to hurt anybody. The hardest part was seeing someone I love suffer.”

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“As it may be prevented through the use of antipsychotic medicines and extra support.”

While schizophrenia “had some impact” on Nicolas, he added: “For me, acting was a way of taking destructive energy and doing something productive with it.

“Instead of turning it on myself or on somebody else, I put it on film and created characters to express anger or express sadness.”

Nicolas Cage stars in Windtalkers, which airs on ITV4 at 9pm on Monday, September 12.