Nicolas Cage Reflects on Turning Down Lord of the Rings and Another Massive Franchise

Over the course of his career, actor Nicolas Cage has brought a number of colorful characters to life, as well as having starred in a handful of big-budget franchises, but two series that he ultimately passed on getting involved in were Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Matrix. The actor recently looked back on passing those series over, pointing out that he opted not to leave his family for the extended production times for those projects, while the fictionalized version of himself in the new film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent saw him pursue more career-oriented avenues.

“First and foremost … there’s no version of Nic Cage in reality that doesn’t want to spend time with his children,” the actor confirmed with PEOPLE. “There’s no version of Nic Cage that didn’t put family first over career. I turned down Lord of the Rings and I turned down Matrix because I didn’t want to go to New Zealand for three years or Australia for three years because I needed to be home with my son Weston, that’s a fact.”

He added, “So there is a huge disparity between that Nick Cage in Massive Talent and the Nic Cage sitting in front of you right now.”

Funnily enough, it’s tough to rule out Cage ever appearing in those franchises, especially with The Matrix Resurrections debuting last year and the TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premiering on Prime Video this fall.

Back in 2007, the actor pointed out that he was potentially up to play Keanu Reeves’ Neo in The Matrix and Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn for The Lord of the Rings.

“There was a couple of movies that I was offered, but I had good reasons, so I couldn’t do it,” Cage shared with MTV News. “One was The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings … Both are great movies. But they both shot in New Zealand for great quantities of time…I mean years. Well, Australia was The Matrix, New Zealand was The Lord of the Rings. But I had family obligations, so I’m glad I stayed and I had those experiences with my family.”

He continued, “I thought what Viggo did was terrific … I just want to think about his character. I don’t think about what I would’ve done.”

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent hits theaters on April 22nd.  

Would you have liked to have seen Cage in these roles? Let us know in the comments below!