Why Nicolas Cage rejected Lord of the Rings and Matrix roles

Nicolas Cage recently revealed that he turned down two iconic roles in blockbuster franchises—The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix—because he didn’t want to be far away from his young son, Weston, who would have been under ten at the time. Both of these films were shot in distant locations—Lord of the Rings in New Zealand and The Matrix in Australia—but Cage chose to prioritize his family over his career.

Cage even almost turned down the role of “himself” in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, as the movie portrays him as a less-than-ideal father to his teenage daughter (played by Lily Sheen). In an interview with PEOPLE, Cage clarified the distinction between his real-life self and the character he plays in the film. He stated, “First and foremost, there’s no version of Nic Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children. There’s no version of Nic Cage that didn’t put family first over career. I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down The Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”

He further emphasized the difference between the character in Massive Talent and his real self, saying, “So there is a huge disparity between that Nick Cage in Massive Talent and the Nic Cage sitting in front of you right now.”

While it’s easy to imagine Cage fitting into The Matrix—perhaps even as Agent Smith (a role played by Hugo Weaving)—it’s harder to picture him in the mystical world of The Lord of the Rings. If he had taken a role, perhaps it would have been as Elrond, the ancient elf, also played by Hugo Weaving.

It’s fascinating to think about how Cage’s career might have unfolded if he had joined these two major franchises, especially given the diverse roles he was taking on at the time. During that period, Cage starred in a range of films, including Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead, the action-packed Gone in 60 Seconds, the romantic drama Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and the critically acclaimed Adaptation by Spike Jonze.