Nicolas Cage.Photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

Nicolas Cageis recalling a rather nasty on-set treat.
While Cage, 59, and hisRenfieldcostarNicholas Houltspoke withYahoo! Entertainmentrecently about their new vampire horror-comedy, the actor recalled that heonce ate live cockroacheswhile filming a scene for his 1988 cult movieVampire’s Kiss.
“Oh yeah, I ate it twice, because the director did it just to prank me,” Cage told 33-year-old Hoult about the experience, after he was asked whether he gave his costar advice on eating bugs inRenfield.
“I’m not one to give advice, but [Hoult] ate a potato bug so he took it to another level,” he said, to which Hoult replied: “The cockroach is worse than a potato bug I think… the cockroaches I got to eat in this were caramel.”
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“Oh, but he ate a real potato bug, which is terrifying to me. And so I ate cockroaches. I’ll never do that again. I’m sorry I did it at all,” he said, laughing.
Hoult added that the crickets he ate for the film “were actually quite yummy” due to various flavors added to help them go down easier. “The potato bug didn’t dry out so good and that tasted every bit of bug,” he said.
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Despite the obvious fears involved with eating bugs, Cage observed that a bug-oriented diet “could solve world starvation.”
“If you could get rid of your fear, your phobia of eating insects you could solve world starvation,” he told Yahoo! Entertainment. “High protein, no fat, excellent nutrients, abundance — they’re everywhere. I mean, why not? But nope. Not gonna happen.”
Vampire’s Kissfollowed Cage as a literary agent who falls for a vampire (Jennifer Beals). In one scene, his character is shown talking to himself and eventually eating a cockroach he finds in his kitchen.
The actor said in a DVD commentary for the movie that he did two takes of the scene — and ate two bugs — at the director’s wish, though the director ultimately used Cage’s first effort in the movie’s final cut, according toFilm School Rejects.
In addition to Hoult and Cage asRenfield’s main characters, the film also stars Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez and Awkwafina. The film follows Renfield as he struggles to escape from his codependent and abusive relationship with Dracula.
Renfieldis playing in theaters now.
source: people.com