Despite becoming one of the most popular faces on the internet, Nicolas Cage says he’s not trying to be a meme.
He didn’t mean to become an internet phenomenon, and he’s not paying that much attention anyway. In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, Nic “I’m going to steal the Declaration of Independence” Cage says he tries to stay offline:
His persona as an actor, which somehow combines camp with oddly philosophical methodology, has made him one of the most internet-friendly celebrities, but he doesn’t feel the need to keep up.
Cage became the “You Don’t Say” meme at the dawn of the genre, and he’s since become a popular source for everything from pranks to home goods. (One user review of a pillow with Cage’s face on it, sold by Amazon, reads: “It may be the best thing I’ve ever bought on Amazon. Heck, it may be the best thing I’ve ever owned.”
Like Keanu Reeves, Cage has maintained his internet popularity by being both cinematically ubiquitous and, as millennials say, largely unproblematic. But Cage doesn’t need to see himself as the face that launched a thousand memes.
While social media users are sharing his face on Twitter, he’s probably at home sipping champagne; the internet can enjoy his persona, and he can enjoy his privacy. If there’s a healthy way to enjoy fame, it seems Cage has found it.
