For his performance, he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Three years later, he starred as a suicidal alcoholic in the critically acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas. In 1992, Cage earned his second Golden Globe nomination for Honeymoon in Vegas. Cage's chaotic, self-indulgent performance'. In 1989, he appeared in the black comedy film Vampire's Kiss, a box-office bomb that later gained a cult following The New York Times described it as being 'dominated and destroyed by Mr. In 1988, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role in Moonstruck. In 1986, he starred as Ned Hanlan in The Boy in Blue and Charlie Bodell in Peggy Sue Got Married before leading the crime comedy Raising Arizona (1987), written and directed by the Coen brothers.

In 1984, Cage portrayed a fictionalized version of Irish-American mob hitman Mad Dog Coll ('Vincent Dwyer') in The Cotton Club and appeared in Birdy, a feature chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of that year. In 1983, Cage starred in a leading role in the teen romantic comedy Valley Girl alongside Deborah Foreman the film was praised by critics and summarized by Rotten Tomatoes as a 'goofy yet amiable film' with 'engaging performances from its two leads.'

The following year, Cage made his feature film acting debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the second and last time he was credited by his birth name Nicolas Coppola he later changed his name professionally to avoid allegations of nepotism due to his connection to the Coppola family. Nicolas Cage is an American actor and producer who began his acting career in 1981 with a role in the television pilot The Best of Times. Cage on the set of National Treasure: Book of Secrets in 2006.

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