Nicolas Cage has a reputation for taking on surprising and unusual movie roles, but nothing comes close to his performance in Adaptation. It’s hard to pick out a pattern among Nicolas Cage’s best movies. While other actors might be happy to stick to what they know, playing the same kinds of characters over and over again, Cage’s only guiding light is his desire to push his own boundaries. He often plays eccentrics, or he makes such bold acting choices that he turns characters who might otherwise be rather grounded into eccentrics.

Choosing Cage’s weirdest movie role isn’t easy. Just within the last few years, he’s played a serial killer in Longlegs, Count Dracula in Renfield and an alternative version of Super-Man in The Flash. Clearly, he’s just as interested in surprising his audience as ever, but one of the most surprising things that Cage can do is deliver a captivating, grounded, relatable performance, to remind everyone that he’s also a top-notch actor when he wants to be. His strangest role of all combines his desire to think outside the box with his genuine talent as a performer.

Nicolas Cage’s Two Characters In Adaptation Explained

Cage Plays A Set Of Twins Based On The Screenwriter’s Personality

Cage is at the peak of his powers in Adaptation. He plays two twin brothers, Charlie and Donald Kaufman, who are also credited as the writers of the movie. Adaptation is about the process of writing Adaptation, and the way that Charlie Kaufman struggled to bring Susan Orlean’s The Orchid Thief to the big screen. It’s a fascinating semi-autobiographical story that mixes in some elements of filmmaking fantasy, as Charlie struggles with writer’s block, pressing ᴅᴇᴀᴅlines and his own crippling self-doubt.

While playing the writer of the movie that he’s in is already weird enough, the character of Donald Kaufman is even weirder. This is because Donald Kaufman doesn’t actually exist, even though he’s presented in the movie as if he does, and Charlie shares a screenwriting credit with his fictional brother. In the same movie, Cage is tasked with playing a fictionalized version of the writer and a figment of the writer’s imagination. It may not be as immediately eye-catching as some of Cage’s hammier roles, but it’s utterly unique, and it’s the kind of strange narrative stunt that lingers in the mind.

The Real Meaning Behind Nicolas Cage Playing Two Kaufmans In Adaptation

Charlie And Donald Represent Two Sides Of The Writer’s Psyche

Charlie Kaufman created one of the weirdest book adaptations ever with Adaptation, almost completely disregarding The Orchid Thief and instead making the movie about himself. For such an unusual script, it’s fitting that he got a director like Spike Jonze, who previously worked with him on Being John Malkovich and showed that he’s not afraid to set off into the unknown. Cage is also the ideal collaborator on such a project, and his performance in the dual role as the Kaufman brothers is a key ingredient in Adaptation‘s potent mix.

In Adaptation, Charlie represents himself as a tortured artist, trying desperately to do something brave and original in a Hollywood system that punishes such instincts. By contrast, his brother Donald picks up screenwriting on a whim, and his cliche-riddled script about a serial killer becomes an instant hit, despite the fact that it makes no sense and lacks any real artistic merit. Donald is an ardent follower of a screenwriting guru who preaches about structure and readability, essentially condensing what Charlie sees as an art form into a business practice.

By separating his own psyche into two distinct characters, Kaufman can examine his conflicted frame of mind. In Adaptation, Charlie is an idealist who believes in change, while Donald is happy to slot into the system as long as it brings him success. Ultimately, Charlie and Donald need to team up before they can get anywhere, with Charlie’s cerebral, artistic instincts and Donald’s commercially viable, pragmatic approach. Adaptation is about the taxing process of creating meaningful art, and Kaufman suggests that daring to dream and daring to do are equally important.