Nicolas Cage's Acting Necessity

Nicolas Cage's Acting Necessity

Nicolas Cage said he acts "out of necessity".

The 'Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans' actor said he is driven to work so hard at his profession because it helps him to "channel" his energy so he doesn't "implode".

The actor - who is presently facing financial difficulties after being handed an unpaid tax bill of $6 million - said of his latest film: "At the time I was doing all this, I was being driven out of necessity, and out of trying to find new ways to express myself, because I had a lot of stuff going on.

"And I wanted to be productive with that, and not be constructive, as opposed to be destructive. So that's one of the reasons why I act, out of necessity, because it helps me channel my energies in such a way that I don't have to implode, so I can just sort of put it into the work."

He also compared the 'Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans' with the original film which it draws from, 1992's 'Bad Lieutenant', which starred Harvey Keitel in the role as Terence McDonagh - a corrupt police officer and drug addict who wreaks havoc in his city.

Nicolas added: "The movies stand apart, and they're both originals but for different reasons. To me, the Abel Ferrara movie is much more of kind of a religious program, where Harvey's character's going through all sorts of Catholic guilt. Whereas with this one is he gets existential, and there is no guilt."