{"id":2435845,"date":"2026-05-28T18:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2435845"},"modified":"2026-05-28T18:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T18:25:16","slug":"nicolas-cage-recalls-how-he-convinced-johnny-depp-to-just-try-acting-in-the-1980s-the-rest-is-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/nicolas-cage-recalls-how-he-convinced-johnny-depp-to-just-try-acting-in-the-1980s-the-rest-is-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Cage Recalls How He Convinced Johnny Depp to &#8216;Just Try&#8217; Acting in the 1980s: &#8216;The Rest Is History&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mb-4 text-lg font-bold\">NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nicolas Cage says he is the one who pushed Johnny Depp into acting<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Speaking to <em>Variety<\/em>, Cage said the two met in their younger years, and Depp was struggling financially when he convinced him to give acting a try<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We were dating the same girl, and he came to L.A. not wanting to like me,&#8221; Cage said of Depp<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link \" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/tag\/nicolas-cage\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Nicolas Cage;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Nicolas Cage&quot;}\">Nicolas Cage<\/a> says he is the one who pushed Johnny Depp to get into acting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cage, 62, spoke to <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/tv\/news\/nicolas-cage-spider-noir-watching-breaking-bad-true-detective-1236758915\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Variety;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Variety&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><em>Variety<\/em><\/a> about the actors he came of age with \u2014 including Depp, 62.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We were dating the same girl, and he came to L.A. not wanting to like me,&#8221; Cage said of the actor. &#8220;He was a guitar player. I liked him right away, and he said, &#8216;I like Nic\u2026 I can\u2019t <em>not<\/em> like him.&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-3 right-3 rounded-full bg-primary p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-primary\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"flex-none size-4 -scale-x-100 text-primary lg:size-6 [&amp;_path]:fill-current\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M3.1 3.1V11h1.8V6.314l5.392 5.393 1.415-1.414L6.313 4.9H11V3.1zm17.8 17.8V13h-1.8v4.686l-5.393-5.393-1.415 1.414 5.393 5.393H13v1.8z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed bottom-0 left-0 right-0 top-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-primary hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p><i>Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp<br \/>Credit: Barry King\/WireImage<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Cage continued: &#8220;We became very good friends, and we were playing Monopoly one day. He was having a very hard time financially \u2014 he was selling pens, I believe, and I let him live in my apartment, but then he started stealing my money to buy drinks \u2014 and I said, &#8216;Why don\u2019t you just try acting?&#8217; &#8220;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-puzzler-8620185\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;And he said, &#8216;I can\u2019t act.&#8217; And I said, &#8216;Yeah, you can. Why don\u2019t you just go meet with my agent?&#8217; And he met with my agent, and the rest is history. He was an &#8216;overnight sensation,&#8217; as they say,&#8221; the <em>Spider-Noir <\/em>actor remembered.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE&#8217;s <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/people-news-daily-newsletter-sign-up-8692701\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:free daily newsletter;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;free daily newsletter&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a><strong> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Depp&#8217;s first role came in the 1984 horror classic <em>A Nightmare on Elm Street, <\/em>followed by his breakout television role in 1987, <em>21 Jump Street,<\/em> which ran until 1990 and launched him into teen idol status.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In a 2019 interview with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/08\/07\/magazine\/nicolas-cage-interview.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:The New York Times Magazine;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;The New York Times Magazine&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><em>The New York Times Magazine<\/em><\/a>, Cage said that the <em>Nightmare on Elm Street<\/em> role came due to him connecting Depp to his agent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cHe wanted to be a musician at the time, and he told me, \u2018No, I can\u2019t act.\u2019 I said, \u2018I think you can act.\u2019 So I sent him to meet with my agent,&#8221; Cage recalled in that interview. &#8220;She sent him out on his first audition, which was <em>A Nightmare on Elm Street<\/em>. He got the part that day. Overnight sensations don\u2019t happen. But it happened with him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the original article on <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/nicolas-cage-recalls-how-he-convinced-johnny-depp-to-just-try-acting-in-the-1980s-11985044\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:People;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;People&quot;}\" class=\"link \">People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEED TO KNOW Nicolas Cage says he is the one who pushed Johnny Depp into acting Speaking to Variety, Cage said the two met in their younger years, and Depp was struggling financially when he convinced him to give acting a try &#8220;We were dating the same girl, and he came to L.A. not wanting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2435846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[309290,351853],"class_list":["post-2435845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-johnny-depp","tag-nicolas-cage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Nicolas-Cage-Recalls-How-He-Convinced-Johnny-Depp-to-Just.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2435845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2435847,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435845\/revisions\/2435847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2435846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2435845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2435845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2435845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}