Casting Nicolas Cage in a movie means the vibe is going to be weird in some way, shape or form. It seems Cage has been able to shape his career not only through his incredible acting talent, but also through the eccentricity he brings to every role. From “Vampire’s Kiss” to “Spider-Noir,” Cage knows how to stand out in a role while breathing semi-unhinged energy into almost every character. That said, sharing an on-screen kiss with the actor can be an experience unlike any other. It’s an experience shared between Laura Dern, Cher and, of course, Cage’s ex-wife and “Severance” star Patricia Arquette.
Monica Potter, Cage’s co-star in the 1997 film “Con Air,” had nothing but wonderful things to say about Cage’s kissing skills. She opened up about the kiss on Steve Kmetko’s podcast, “Still Here Hollywood,” says, “So funny, very good kisser … I can say that now that I’m divorced twice.” It’s hard to believe that Cage would be a bad kisser, considering the different roles he’s played and the different wives he’s had over the years. Arquette hasn’t discussed what it was like to kiss her ex-husband, but she did go into detail about a strange pact they had when they were together on “Hot Ones Versus.” “We made a deal that if we were going to do a love scene, we’d eat garlic,” she revealed to her “Severance” co-star Adam Scott. “So I ate garlic before I had to kiss Ewan McGregor,” making “Nightwatch” the movie where she experienced her official worst kiss, all thanks to Cage.
Nicolas Cage’s love scene in Vampire’s Kiss proves he’s a threat
While a pact was made, it seems Nicolas Cage didn’t keep his end of the deal. When Cage was doing a love scene, Patricia Arquette asked him if he had eaten garlic, “and he said, ‘I thought we were joking!’ she remembered “Hot Ones Versus.” Cage didn’t commit to Garlic Bites at the time, but did get into some pretty weird altercations on the set of “Vampire’s Kiss” while dating Arquette (FYI, things worked out stranger between Cage and Arquette after they were married). Cage had campaigned for Arquette to be cast as the female vampire, but to no avail. Jennifer Beals had joined the cast the day before filming, and Cage was far from happy about this.
Beals was brought into the film after the former cast member dropped out when her fiance threatened to break up with her if she did a love scene with Cage – talk about unsafe. The irony behind this is that Cage made the love scene incredibly strange for both parties. Marcia Shulman, the film’s associate producer and casting director, talked about the bizarre love scene to The caller. “To get fired up, Nic asked to have warm yogurt poured over his toes while doing a love scene with Jennifer.” We may never know the answer to why Cage needed yogurt involved in his love scene, and maybe it’s better that way.
