Nicolas Cage Pays Tribute To David Lynch: ‘He Freed Me’ – Exclusive

David Lynch will go down as one of the most uncompromising artists in cinema history. And when you combine that boundless originality with the freewheeling performance style of Nicolas Cage, another artist who’s not one to curb his impulses, you get something as unique as 1990’s Wild At Heart. Equal parts romantic and nightmarish, it’s a road trip movie like no other. In Empire’s issue paying tribute to David Lynch in the wake of his passing, Cage looks back on his experience working with the great director, a journey in its own right.

As he tells Empire, Cage found real freedom in collaborating with Lynch on Wild At Heart. “I never had more fun working with anybody than I did with David Lynch,” he explains. “And I think Wild At Heart is one of the best movies I’ve ever made. I’ll never be able to do another movie like that. [Lynch] cannot be replaced.”

It’s a film that made a real impact on Cage, who found a new way to approach performance as a result of his work on the film. “I said, ‘Hey, David, is it okay if I have fun while making this movie?’,” the star recalls. “And he said, ‘Nickster, it’s not only okay, it’s necessary.’ At that time, I was doing pictures like Birdie with Alan Parker, and I was trying do the whole De Niro torture-myself thing, and David freed me from all that. He took that all away just by giving me the greenlight to have fun on his set and to enjoy it.” It’s unlikely we’ll ever see a star-director pairing quite so wild ever again.

Read Nicolas Cage’s full David Lynch tribute in the April 2025 issue of Empire, on sale Thursday 13 February. Pre-order a copy online here.