Hollywood star Nicolas Cage says he has no plans to slow down or retire from acting as he believes the profession has kept him "healthier" and in a positive frame of mind.
The 57-year-old actor has been working in Hollywood for almost four decades, delivering some of the most critically-acclaimed and smash hit movies like Wild At Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, Con Air, Face/Off, Adaptation and Ghost Rider.
He is currently receiving praise for indie feature Pig, which released in the US in July, and Prisoners of the Ghostland.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nicolas said he is "never going to retire" from acting.
"That can’t happen. To do what I do in cinema has been like a guardian angel for me, and I need it. I’m healthier when I’m working, I need a positive place to express my life experience, and filmmaking has given me that. So I’m never going to retire. Where are we now, 117 movies?" he said.
"What’s funny is, my argument with people who go, 'You work too much', was ‘I like working, and it’s healthy, I’m happy when I’m working, and by the way, guys like (James) Cagney and (Humphrey) Bogart, they were doing hundreds of movies.' And then I went, ‘I’d better check that,’ and I went, ‘Oops'," Nicolas added.
{{/usCountry}}"What’s funny is, my argument with people who go, 'You work too much', was ‘I like working, and it’s healthy, I’m happy when I’m working, and by the way, guys like (James) Cagney and (Humphrey) Bogart, they were doing hundreds of movies.' And then I went, ‘I’d better check that,’ and I went, ‘Oops'," Nicolas added.
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The actor will next star in Lionsgate film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in which he plays a fictionalised version of himself, along with a supporting cast of Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Tiffany Haddish and Neil Patrick Harris.
The movie will release in the US in April 2022.