The Oscar-winning actor said he no longer wanted to be “the clown cousin on the margins” of the Coppola family.

Nicolas Cage explains why he legally changed his name to remove ‘Coppola’

The Oscar-winning actor said he no longer wanted to be "the clown cousin on the margins" of the Coppola family.

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May 28, 2026 10:40 a.m. ET

Nicolas Cage. Credit:

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- Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has revealed why he legally changed his name in 2025.

- The actor is part of the famed Coppola family alongside iconic directors Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola.

- Cage said he didn't want to be "the clown cousin" of the family anymore.

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has opened up about why he legally changed his name to remove "Coppola," despite the famous last name signifying Hollywood excellence.

Though he's part of the same family that also includes iconic filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola, Cage, who was born Nicolas Coppola, wanted to establish his own identity free from ties to the cinematically inclined collective.

"No. I* am* Nick Cage," the 62-year-old said in a new interview with *Variety*, when asked if it's "strange" to be known by the stage name he gave himself with inspiration from the Marvel character, Luke Cage.

Amy Sussman/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty

"I changed my name legally last year. I’m Nick Cage in life, and I’m Nick Cage on camera. 'Tis better to be the patriarch of my own little family than the clown cousin on the margins of someone else’s, so I decided I’m going to bring it on and be 'Cage,'" the actor added. "'Cage' is a name that I liked coming across in the comics — I just thought he had a cool name — and I grew up in a very avant-garde, artsy family and there was talk about John Cage and the experimental compositions that he did."

Cage admitted that he "was looking for something like 'James Dean'" in the process, which he felt had a "short and sweet" ring to it — especially attached to acting credits.

"I thought, well, I’ll keep the name 'Nicolas' because my father named me Nicolas — with French spelling, which has always frustrated me, because everyone adds an 'h,'" he said. "I don’t know why he gave me the French spelling! But he did."

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The star has been known by the last name "Cage" for most of his Hollywood career, but he was credited as "Nicolas Coppola" for his film debut in 1982's *Fast Times at Ridgemont High*.

Cage's family ties to the Coppola family are through his father, August Coppola, the older brother of the aforementioned *Godfather* film series director, Francis.

Francis' daughter, Sofia (who won an Oscar for her work on 2003's *Lost in Translation*), is therefore Cage's first cousin.

Jesse Grant/Variety via Getty

Cage's efforts to establish himself beyond his family ties have paid off. The actor has received two Academy Award nominations, winning Best Actor for 1995's *Leaving Las Vegas*. He was nominated in the same category for 2002's *Adaptation*.

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Cage has since appeared in a number of high-profile roles in subsequent decades, including his buzzy, transformative role in the 2024 horror film *Longlegs *and as John Madden in the upcoming biographical film *Madden*. *Spider-Noir*, his first TV series, premiered this week on MGM+ and Prime Video.**

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