Madden star Nicolas Cage was ‘way out of [his] comfort zone’

6 November 2026

Nicolas Cage felt “way out of [his] comfort zone” filming Madden.

Nicolas Cage plays John Madden in the new movie

The 62-year-old actor plays American football coach and commentator John Madden in the new biographical sports film, which is co-produced and directed by David O. Russell, and Nicolas admits that he found the role to be really challenging.

He told Extra: “If there’s something you fear, within reason, you need to do it because you might learn something, and that’s what drew me in.

“I never want to get comfortable with anything that I’m doing. I wanna stretch and grow and learn.”

Nicolas also reflected on the physical transformation required to play Madden.

The actor shared: “When we first started doing the prosthetics, it was like frozen on my face like a mask.

“I said, ‘Guys, this isn’t working. I can’t even move my mouth. I can’t even blink my eyes. This isn’t gonna work. I have to be able to express myself through whatever you put on me. It’s gotta be a hybrid. You gotta leave some of me there to communicate.’

“The weight gain was a hybrid, which was the approach that was used on ‘The Whale.’ I did 25 lbs. of my own weight, which I thought was still within the realm of being not too dangerous, and then another 30 lbs. of prosthetics.

“But it had to be a hybrid. At 62, it’s gotta be a hybrid.”

Nicolas subsequently revealed the secrets to his weight gain.

The actor said: “I was enjoying the lot of pasta, you know how it is. We went and had a lot of noodles. We like this place called Macaroni Republic in downtown L.A., and I ate a lot of pasta. And I didn’t say, ‘Maybe I better not have that.’ I just did it.”

Nicolas stars alongside Sienna Miller in Madden, and she recently revealed what drew her to the project.

Asked what attracted her to the movie, Sienna told Extra: “Listen, any proximity to Christian Bale, Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn, John Mulaney, David O. Russell … I would have happily made the tea on this set, so I was just thrilled to be in the same sentence as those greats.”

In the movie, Sienna plays Carol Davis, the wife of Al Davis, the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders franchise.

Discussing the challenges of playing Carol, Sienna shared: “I loved any amount of transformation. The voice was very specific Brooklyn, and I worked really hard on that and I had the time of my life. I don’t think I’ve had a happier experience making a film than this.”