Yahoo Finance 'I couldn't get out in time': Nicolas Cage recalls being $6M in debt after the real estate market crashed and making 'crummy' movies to pay it off — here are some of his craziest buys
Nicolas Cage is known for his eccentricity and intensity on and off camera. He recently made headlines for his cameo in a June blockbuster, and for his upcoming appearance as himself in the popular video game "Dead by Daylight." While the series has featured horror icons such as Freddy Krueger, Cage is the first real-life celebrity on the roster.
As Cage says in the teaser trailer, "There's nothing more powerful than imagination." This holds especially true for the actor, who was once a top earner in Hollywood, reportedly worth $150 million at one point.
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In a recent interview on CBS’s "60 Minutes," Cage reflected on how he fell $6 million in debt after blowing much of his career earnings on real estate prior to the market crashing.
To get out of that “dark period” and pay the IRS and his creditors everything he owed, Cage moved to tax-friendly Las Vegas, Nevada and made multiple movies a year.
“Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue-chip, but it was still work. Even if the movie ultimately is crummy … I’m not phoning it in. I care, every time.”
Ultimately, the Oscar winner’s efforts paid off and he settled his debts without having to file for bankruptcy — but the 59-year-old came dangerously close. Here are some of his craziest buys.
Mansions and a haunted house
Cage has picked up a slew of residential real estate during his prolific acting career — but he lost nearly all of his properties during the previous housing market crisis when his financial mismanagement and tax debts ballooned amid the financial crisis.
“I was over-invested in real estate,” he said. “The real estate market crashed and I couldn’t get out in time.”
Cage once owned 15 residences, according to CNBC, including a $25-million waterfront home in Newport Beach, California, a $15.7 million countryside estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and a $8.5 million abode in Las Vegas.
He also apparently bought two castles in Europe for $10 million and $2.3 million, respectively. To top things off, there was also a $3.4 million purchase of the infamous LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans. The mansion is known as one of the most haunted houses in America and was the setting for the TV show "American Horror Story: Coven."
As Cage told the New York Daily News back in 2009, "You know, other people have beachfront property; I have ghost front property..."
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A dinosaur skull, burial tomb and a black dragon
Cage’s eccentric spending habits extended even beyond real estate. With an eye on his eternal resting place, the actor purchased a nine-foot-tall pyramid tomb, according to CNBC.
He also apparently spent $150,000 on a pet octopus and bought the first Superman comic, also for $150,000.
The actor even bought a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull for $276,000 — reportedly outbidding fellow actor Leonardo DiCaprio for it — but it turned out to be stolen and he had to return the skull to the Mongolian government.
Cage's CBS interview also revealed that he has a new pet, a monitor lizard that will grow to about six feet (according to its owner). Cage is fond of his "black dragon," and says the experience is "like having a real dinosaur in your house."
Gilded age
It's no surprise Cage has dropped some serious dollars on flashy cars over the years.
The award-winning actor has had plenty of exposure to expensive vehicles throughout his career. He even trained to perform his own driving stunts for the 2000 hit "Gone in 60 Seconds."
In 1997, he paid $446,820 for a rare 1971 Lamborghini Miura SVJ owned by the late Shah of Iran. According to the Associated Press, he paid almost double the estimated value of the prized vehicle after bidding for it by phone.
Cage conducted part of his CBS interview from his brand-new golden Lamborghini, purchased in tribute to the 1968 film "Toby Dammit," which featured a gilded Ferrari.
“When I saw this, I said: ‘That’s the car.’ It’s not a Ferrari, which would be great, but they don’t really have any gold Ferraris. It’s fun!”
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