Nicolas Cage Wasn’t Surprised by Oscar Snub for Pig

Nicolas Cage already won his first Oscar, taking home the Best Actor in a Leading Role prize in 1996 forLeaving Las Vegas (and earning another nomination for Adaptation in 2003), but many fans expected him to gain another after his hit 2021 movie Pig. Erroneously described by some as “John Wick but the guy has a pig,” the tender drama from director Michael Sarnoski flipped the revenge movie on its head and gave what Cage himself called just the second time in his career that was a “lightning in a bottle movie.” The critical response to the film saw many campaign for Cage to nab a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, but Cage wasn’t shocked when that didn’t happen.

“I don’t normally go and do the things like campaigning, but ‘Pig’ is one of two movies that I’ve made in 43 years that really was like lightning in a bottle, where the people you’re working with, everything is just flowing in a way where the ship is sailing and the wind is blowing from a place that you don’t know,” Cage revealed to Indiewire. “The other one was ‘Leaving Las Vegas.’….I never expected a nomination. The movie has already told a story and that’s why we’re in this business. It became almost like a folk song, especially with what we were all going through coming out of feelings of isolation with the quarantine. So the movie already achieved what it was trying to achieve.”

Cage added, “When I saw (Pig), initially I thought it would antithetical to the character for me to campaign, but these people were a joy to work with. The movie came out in July and it didn’t get any love from the film festivals. [Cannes head] Thierry Fremaux said no, so I was like, ‘Let’s give this movie a little bit of attention so people may discover it because I think it’s worthy of that.’”

Despite no love from The Academy, Pig has earned multiple nominations and wins elsewhere. Sarnoski was nominated for the Best First-Time Feature Film award at the Director’s Guild of America and won the Best First Screenplay Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. Several critics groups awarded Cage their Best Actor award including Austin Film Critics Association and the Georgia Film Critics Association. You can stream Pig now on Hulu.