--- title: Nicolas Cage Responds to 'Over the Top' Acting Question description: Nicolas Cage seems to be embracing his wide-reaching reputation as a less-than-nuanced actor. canonical: https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-12T19:05:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:10.813Z og:title: Nicolas Cage Just Blessed Us With a Classic Nicolas Cage Video og:description: "I design where the top is" og:url: https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nicolas Cage Just Blessed Us With a Classic Nicolas Cage Video twitter:description: "I design where the top is" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Nicolas Cage Just Blessed Us With the Most Nicolas Cage Answer About His 'Over the Top' Acting  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 12, 2017 7:05 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 12, 2017 7:05 PM UTC [Nicolas Cage](http://time.com/4871258/nicolas-cage-viral-meme/) seems to be embracing the wide-reaching jokes about some of his [less-than-nuanced performances](http://screencrush.com/nicolas-cage-moments/). During an interview with [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2017/film/news/nicolas-cage-acting-i-dont-act-i-feel-1202554964/)to promote his new movie _Mom and Dad_ alongside director Brian Taylor and co-stars [Selma Blair](http://motto.time.com/4380401/selma-blair-apology/) and Anne Winters at the [Toronto International Film Festival](http://time.com/4936495/kate-winslet-leonardo-dicaprio-titanic-friendship/), Cage shot down a question about going overboard in certain scenes by explaining that he sets the bar for exaggerated performances. “You show me where the top is, and I’ll let you know whether I’m over it or not, all right,” he told the interviewer. “I design where the top is.” The Oscar winner went on to explain why he doesn’t like to describe his craft as “acting” in classic Cage style. “\[Taylor\] knows how spiritual acting is for me,” he said. “I don’t even like the word acting anymore because it implies lying in some way. I don’t act. I feel and I imagine and I channel.” Watch the full clip below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/"},"headline":"Nicolas Cage Just Blessed Us With the Most Nicolas Cage Answer About His 'Over the Top' Acting","datePublished":"2017-09-12T19:05:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:10.813Z","description":"\"I design where the top is\"","url":"https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","celebrities","Actors"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4937801/nicolas-cage-over-the-top-acting/","name":"Nicolas Cage Just Blessed Us With the Most Nicolas Cage Answer About His 'Over the Top' Acting"}}]}] ```