Nicolas Cage says his much-derided VOD films are ‘some of the best work of my life’

Actor previously said he took straight-to-streaming roles to avoid filing for bankruptcy

Nicolas Cage has said that he considers his video-on-demand (VOD) films to be among the best work of his career.

As well as starring in well-known films such as Ghost Rider and National Treasure, the actor has appeared in many movies that weren’t released in cinemas, instead being made immediately available to rent.

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Cage discussed the biggest misconceptions about him held by the public.

“The media sometimes talks about the video-on-demand work,” the 58-year-old said. “The first thing I want to say about that is that, in my opinion, anyone that says ‘straight to video’ in this age is a dinosaur. It’s past tense. Everything is streaming now. It’s one of the best ways to get your movie out there now and have it re-played. It’s been terrific for me.”

Cage continued: “But also, people thought I didn’t care. I did. I was caring. I think that I did some of the best work of my life in that so-called ‘direct to video’ period. Massive Talent was in that group. Mandy was in that group. Pig, Bad Lieutenant: Port of New Orleans, Joe, Mom and Dad, Color Out of Space — they were all in that group. The Runner I thought was terrific.

“I’ll put any of those movies up [against] the first 30 years... It was the best workshop, the best acting class I could have. I think it really was practice. I felt it made it so much easier for me to access my emotional content or my imagination.”

Last month, Cage explained that the basis behind accepting so many VOD roles stemmed from a refusal to file for bankruptcy, after reportedly spending his entire $150m (£115m) fortune and owing $6.3m (£4.8m) in property taxes.

“I’ve got all these creditors and the IRS and I’m spending $20,000 (£15,364) a month trying to keep my mother out of a mental institution, and I can’t,” he said, adding: “It was just all happening at once.”