Andy Samberg Used His SNL Nicolas Cage Impression As A Jumping Off Point For Digman! [Exclusive]
Along with being part of The Lonely Island comedy trio that made "SNL Digital Shorts" a key part of the modern success of "Saturday Night Live" in the 2000s, Andy Samberg also became well-known on the late-night sketch series for doing a spot-on Nicolas Cage impersonation.
As part of a recurring Weekend Update segment called "Get in the Cage with Nicolas Cage," Samberg would portray Cage and sit at the news desk with whoever the "SNL" host was that week, including the likes of Liam Neeson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Bradley Cooper, and even Paul Rudd. Though the segment was described as being about the craft of acting, it would always turn into Cage describing one of the actor's films that would be perfect for Cage to star in, followed by the inevitable question, "How am I not in that movie!?" Samberg's Nicolas Cage bit became such a hit that Nicolas Cage himself appeared at the Weekend Update desk for an edition of "Get in the Cage," something that the "SNL" cast member refers to as "a career highlight." But it wouldn't be the last time Cage inspired one of Samberg's bits.
This week, Comedy Central introduces us to a new adventure hero in the form of "Digman!" Though we find archaeologist Rip Digman (Andy Samberg) washed up over a decade after the death of his wife Bella (Melissa Fumero), he still has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, carrying himself with the arrogance of a much more successful man. To tap into that wealth of confidence, Samberg turned to his trusty Nicolas Cage impression from "Saturday Night Live." However, that was just the starting point for this zany new character. Leading up to the release of "Digman!" this month, we spoke with Samberg about dusting off his beloved impression, and he explained how this impersonation laid the foundation for Rip Digman, though they would ultimately ensure it wasn't just a Nicolas Cage character.
'It definitely was the jumping off point for this'
Before the release of "Digman!" on Comedy Central, I was able to see the first four episodes of the adult animated adventure series, and as our review says, it's absurdly hilarious. Since the show is called "Digman!," it should come as no surprise that much of the humor comes from this deluded character who is almost totally lacking any self-awareness about his shortcomings. Endlessly confident and hungry for adventure, Digman is like a Nicolas Cage character from another dimension, but with some necessary twists.
During an interview with Samberg and series co-creator Neil Campbell, I asked about using the Nicolas Cage impression as part of Digman's character, and Samberg confirmed the inspiration:
"It definitely was the jumping off point for this. And then we obviously changed everything else. So it's not him, it's this new character in this new world in this new universe, but there was certain things about the pitch and tenor and rhythm of it that transferred over. That was one of my favorite things that I did on 'SNL,; and it culminated in actual Nic Cage coming on the show and doing it with me, which was a career highlight. So I wanted to continue doing something like that without actually doing that, and this ended up being the perfect vehicle for it."
Considering the fact that Digman feels like a mix of Indiana Jones and Cage's character Benjamin Gates from "National Treasure," it's a good thing Campbell and Samberg didn't rely solely on turning the character into another Cage parody. Though there are certainly influences there, Digman stands out as his own thing.
'That was a big cornerstone of why we loved the character, all of his sort of old-timey-isms'
One of the key ways in which Samberg and Campbell created a distinction between your average Cage character and Rip Digman was by giving him a recurring gag that brings some of the biggest and silliest laughs. All throughout the series, Digman is spouting off-dated references and colloquialisms, such as having "a case of the Zorros," which is an old-timey way of saying that you're feeling anxious or nervous. Samberg said:
"That was a big cornerstone of why we loved the character, all of his sort of old-timey-isms. 'Giving me a case of the Zorros,' and stuff like that. That makes me laugh every time. It's just, all the old phrases are so cool and weird and specific, and I never would've in a million years known about them, unless I watched every movie from that era and happened upon one, or if we actually did what we're doing here, which is research them to bring them back."
Campbell reiterated that they would look to the past to pull out these vintage phrases for Digman to say in any given moment, "Sometimes it's a hybrid of a real thing meets a fake thing, or we find a real one and then we kind of take one step to the side and kind of come up with an analogous version of something," Campbell said. "But yes, definitely a lot of digging into old text."
You can hear Andy Samberg spout more of these dated phrases when "Digman!" premieres on Comedy Central starting on March 22, 2023 at 10:30pm ET/9:30pm CT.