Nicolas Cage on How His Mom Inspired Horror Role in ‘Longlegs’ (Exclusive)

“Extra” spoke to Nicolas Cage at the L.A. premiere of his new horror thriller film “Longlegs,” about an FBI agent searching for a serial killer.

He talked about how excited he was about his major transformation in the film, saying, “I was excited about the transformation to be able to play something where I don't look like myself. It was very liberating. It allowed me to free up some cathartic, if you will, dreams that I had. I wanted to play a character that sounded nothing like myself and looked nothing like myself.”

Cage went on, “I don't like violence. I don't particularly enjoy serial killer movies, but it was more than that for me there. I try to find what was emotional, what drove this character insane. Can I find empathy in the character and compassion even though he's doing these incredibly horrible things? It’s not him, per se, it is the voices.”

The star also spoke about how his mother unexpectedly was an inspiration and hearing her voice in his head.

Nicolas explained, “It was interesting because when Oz Perkins, the director, sent me the script and I met with him, he said, ‘This is a movie about my mom,’ which isn't what you expect to hear from a director of a horror film. I said, ‘Well, that's interesting, Oz, because when I was reading this character, it became about my mom.’”

He continued, “I heard her voice. She wasn't satanic, but she went through a lot, and I heard her voice and the way she would move and suddenly I thought, ‘You know, I could put all that into this character.’ That was an inspiration. I owe, if I'm any good in the movie, I owe it to my mom.”

The actor also referenced Federico Fellini’s 1965 film “Juliet of the Spirits” saying, “There was this androgynous prophet in that movie and I kept, even though it was in Italian, I kept thinking about that character's voice. That was another inspiration.”

As for how he unwinds after such an intense shoot, he said, “I leave it all on set. I go home, I FaceTime my wife. I just kept going back to that, which is calming and normal.”

“Longlegs” is out July 12.