Nicolas Cage

Yes, somewhat amazingly, it is this 2013 animated family-friendly flick that Cage gets to call the highest-grossing film of his career, sitting above the likes ...

Animation is not a genre — it is a very legitimate filmmaking medium and a vehicle to tell a story in a specific way. DreamWorks was in a rough spot financially at the time as movies such as "Rise of the Guardians" had flopped. I want there to be an electricity to the experience so it feels like I'm in the moment with the other characters." It feels like, even in 2023, animation is viewed as a "less than" medium by the industry at large. Yet, here was Cage leading the cast of a movie that had a great deal of pressure on it. You have to imagine these other people, these other members of your family are in the room with you. Cage, ever the thespian, approached the role of Grug with a great deal of respect for the craft. It was a kernel of an idea of two cavemen on the run—one was a luddite and one was a wacky inventor. Yes, somewhat amazingly, it is this 2013 animated family-friendly flick that Cage gets to call the highest-grossing film of his career, sitting above the likes of "The Rock" and "Face/Off." Most crucially, the rights to "Crood Awakening" reverted to DreamWorks. Aside from that, Cage had very little experience in voice work, having only 2001's "Christmas Carol: The Movie" under his belt at that time. Yet, for all of his awards-worthy performances and blockbuster films, one stands tall about all the rest as his biggest hit ever: "The Croods."