Nicolas Cage on doing ‘best work of his life’ in the past few years: ‘Feeling very blessed’

Nicolas Cage said he feels 'blessed' that he has done the 'best work of his life' in the past few years.

In an interview with People Magazine, the Pig actor was asked if there was something he would share with his ‘real-life early-career self.’

The 58-year old actor replied, "I would say it's gonna be alright. I would say that your dreams — the real Nicky, the Nicky that watched Midnight Cowboy for the first time on a funky old television in Louise Vogelsang, my grandmother's house and had his heartstrings pulled and his heart torn out — I would say that we're going to make some movies down the road that you're going to have that feeling again."

"I'm also gonna say that no matter what people think, whatever the media wants to say or they want to marginalize your so-called 'direct-to-video' movies, you're going to do some of the best work of your life in the last 10 years that will hold up to any of the first 30 years," Cage added.

He compared some of his old movies with the new ones, adding, "I'll put Mandy next to Face/Off. I'll put Pig next to Leaving Las Vegas. It goes on: Bad Lieutenant, Joe.   So for me, I'm feeling very blessed right now."

"I always say to myself, 'I never had a career, only work.' What I mean by that is sometimes — and I won't mention names — but when you get into this career-minded perception of one's self it can be a slippery slope, and it can lead to things where you start believing in your own mythos and you start taking yourself way too seriously," the actor concluded.

"You become pretentious and then you fall into the realm of diva, and that's when mistakes happen in your personal life and on camera."