My mom loves Moonstruck (and I do too). When I was growing up, I saw it often. It was the first (and, for a long time, the only) Nicolas Cage movie I had seen. He was this deep, serious actor who only did serious, adult films. I couldn’t see him any other way. Even now, I’m racking my brain to figure out when I saw him in something else. Before I did, his myth grew beyond what I had seen. There was a whole world of Cage that I wasn’t familiar with.

Now, I know better. I’ve seen him swap faces with John Travolta. My ears had trouble placing his accent in Con Air. The madness of Mandy was, admittedly, too much for me. Yet Cage has a scene that I unshakeably believe is one of the best examples of an unhinged and undeniably entertaining Cage. I could try to think of my favorite Nicolas Cage films, but it would take some serious thought. Do you know who doesn’t need time to think about it? Nicolas Cage.

Cage dropped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to discuss his new film, Renfield. At the top, Colbert asks Cage to name his Top Five Favorite Nicolas Cage films, and the man doesn’t hesitate. Pig, Mandy, Joe, Bringing Out The Dead, and Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans. Those are Cage’s Top Five Cage Flicks. A question that could usually eat up most of an interview with reflection and thought is over in less than a minute.

I watch a lot of these interviews, and it’s funny to see Cage burn through a question like that so quickly. He is taking the whole thing seriously. He’s gracious and thoughtful. It’s just kind of a BS question meant to generate clicks. Hell, that’s what I’m using it for. Cage seems more interested in discussing the process. At one point, he mentions how his performance in Vampire’s Kiss informed his performance in Face/Off! That’s the damn story!

I’m left wondering if Cage was perhaps perceived as a difficult interview. As is established early on, this is the first time the two are meeting. Maybe the Colbert Crew wanted to ensure that Cage stayed on point. Little did they know, you must get the man talking about his craft. He’s so dialed into what he’s working on he even knows what clip will be shown. That’s a rarity these days!

Nicolas Cage is a big-time actor. He’s also, arguably, a little nuts. But that’s what the people want. Let Cage be Cage! Let him run the interview next time. Make things interesting. Don’t saddle the man with clickbait, he ain’t interested.