Yes, Nicolas Cage Really Acts Like a Caveman When He Plays Grugg in ‘The Croods’
Nicolas Cage fans love all of his outrageous performances. He definitely puts his full body into movies like Vampire’s Kiss, Wild at Heart or Face/Off. When he’s providing the voice of Grug, the father of The Croods, you’re losing half of his acting, although the animators make up for it with Cagey gestures. It turns out, Cage is, in fact, still giving the full performance in the recording studio, including acting like a caveman.
This is confirmed in the Blu-ray bonus features for The Croods: A New Age. The animated sequel is now available on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and digital.
‘The Croods’ creators loved watching Nicolas Cage work
The whole Croods family is back in A New Age. In addition to Cage, Emma Stone and Clark Duke are Grugg’s kids, Eep and Thunk. Catherine Keener is his wife, Ugga and the late Cloris Leachman recorded her role as Gran. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is still hanging around their prehistoric family after the first movie. Producer Mark Swift confirmed that Cage goes method in his caveman performance.
“He embodies Grug,” Swift said. “He’ll walk around the recording booth as a caveman getting into part. He’ll cry. He can really tap into these emotions.”
Head of story Januel P. Mercado got even more insight into Cage’s process.
“Nicolas Cage described his process as like jazz,” Mercado said. “It’s something amazing to behold watching him work.”
‘The Croods’ overtakes even Nicolas Cage
Cage appears in the bonus features. He let his facial hair grow out when he went to the recording studio to perform. The Croods: A New Age Blu-ray also features new interviews with Cage via Zoom from his home.
“I don’t know what’s going to come to me,” Cage said, corroborating Swift and Mercado. “I just know that the process for me is to give myself up over to it.”
The same old Grug in ‘The Croods: A New Age’
Cage elaborated on his character’s journey in The Croods: A New Age. Like the first movie, Grug wants to keep his family together and avoid risks. However, discovering a new family, the Bettermans, challenges Grug.
“Grug is very concerned about the family dynamic,” Cage said. “He wants his family to be safe. Survival is a big S in this equation and sometimes he goes too far with that. The thing that he really has to offer is his strength, but more importantly his gigantic heart and his love for family. That’s his true strength.”
The Croods: A New Age also introduces Grug to bananas, a new food which he enjoys.
“I don’t think Grug knows this but I’m assuming that he has some sense of how his body’s feeling,” Cage said. “He’s not a doctor, he’s not a scientist but he probably somewhere subconsciously, physiologically knows he needs potassium. So he loves bananas.”
