Nicolas Cage Has A Pet Crow Who Profanely Insults Him, Because Of Course He Does

There's a true art to using Nicolas Cage in your film. It's not enough to pair the actor with an outlandish premise and let him go wild for a couple of hours, as last year's "Willy's Wonderland" and, to a lesser degree, "Prisoners of the Ghostland" did. No, what Cage needs (nay, deserves) are roles with real depth that call on him to use his full range of skills as a performer, like he's done in such recent movies as "Mandy" and "Pig." It's in these instances that his passion for his craft really shines through, in the same way that it has when he's talked about doing research for one of his roles or the source of inspiration for his latest undertaking.

Don't get me wrong, though; when he's not on-screen, I'm all for Cage indulging in the eccentric but — broadly speaking — harmless aspects of his personality, not least of all when he's sharing eyebrow-raising details about his personal life (like the time he told THR about going on a real-life hunt for the Holy Grail that sounds more like the abandoned plot for "National Treasure 3" than a thing someone would actually do ... and for all I know, maybe that's exactly what it was and Cage was just messing with everyone). This brings us to today's Nicolas Cage story, which involve the Oscar-winner's various pets — most pointedly, his profanity-spewing crow Hoogan.

Speaking to the LA Times, Cage revealed that he currently has a 4-year old cat named Merlin, whom he referred to as his "best friend" multiple times in the same interview, as well a cat named Teegra who Cage said "doesn't give a s***" that he's only the actor's second best friend. (No doubt, Cage had a deep conversation with him about this. I know I would.) He also revealed that his crow, Hoogan, lives in a geodesic dome in the actor's house in Las Vegas, stating:

"He has taken to calling me names ... it's comical, at least, it is to me. When I leave the room, he'll say, 'Bye,' and then go, 'Ass.' [Laughs] Crows are very intelligent. And I like their appearance, the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element. I am a goth."

So there you have it. If you were wondering what Cage does with his off-time, he spends his days hanging out with his cats and a swearing bird. (Honestly, my own home life isn't all that different.) That's certainly something to keep in mind the next time you catch one of his movies, like the upcoming meta action-comedy "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" (which arrives on April 22, 2022) and his turn as Count Dracula in the horror-comedy "Renfield" (which has yet to receive a release date).