Nicolas Cage, an Elvis Presley fan, has been the subject of a longtime rumor tied to the King of Rock and Roll’s residence, Graceland. The rumor started circulating in the early 2000s, around the same time the actor was married to The King’s only child, Lisa Marie Presley.
Now, Cage is debunking Graceland lore, sharing what did and didn’t happen when he visited Graceland’s highly restricted second floor, where Elvis’ bedroom was located.
Graceland, Elvis Presley’s colonial-style mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, was opened to the public as a museum in 1982, five years after the singer’s death. However, the home’s second floor, where Elvis’ room and the bathroom where he died are located, is entirely closed off. The only people with access are the museum’s curator, Elvis’ immediate family, and vetted staff.
Sometime in the 2000s, a rumor began circulating that Nicolas Cage, who is an avid fan of The King, went to the second floor, tried on Elvis’ clothes, and sat on his toilet.
Elvis died in 1977 at 42 years old. He was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor, and while he was rushed to the hospital, it was believed that he had been deceased for hours before he was discovered.
Nicolas Cage Confirms He Had Visited The Restricted Area
In an interview with The New York Times, Cage was directly asked about the Graceland rumor. “No, that’s not true at all,” the actor said. However, he confirmed that he had been on the second floor and even got the chance to lie down on his idol’s bed.
Elvis’ bedroom is maintained and preserved by the museum’s archivist, and the items and furniture have been left exactly as they were when the singer died.
According to the actor, he visited Graceland with Lisa Marie while they were still married, and they spent a few nights there. Lisa Marie said she wanted to go upstairs, and Cage went with her. “I remember lying in Elvis’ bed, and he had one of those little fiber optics things that spin and change colors,” he shared.
Cage continued, “I remember staring at that and being very relaxed by it and calmed by it, and I enjoyed thinking of him looking at that and how it must have relaxed him.” Despite the truth being less thrilling than the rumor, the actor recalls it being “a beautiful, poignant little moment” in his life.
The Actor Embodied An Elvis Fan In A Movie
Cage has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Elvis, at one point saying that the King of Rock and Roll and David Bowie were his heroes.
In 1990, he portrayed the role of Sailor Ripley in David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart.” Ripley, a parolee-turned-fugitive, is heavily shaped by his love for Elvis, embodying the singer’s rock and roll swagger and adopting his mannerisms. At one point in the movie, Ripley serenades his love interest with the song “Love Me.”
In another movie, “Honeymoon in Vegas,” Cage, in the role of Jack Singer, finds himself skydiving with a group of Elvis impersonators known as the Flying Elvises.
Nicolas Cage And Lisa Marie Presley’s Relationship
Cage and Lisa Marie met in 2000 at a party, and the actor said he was “thunderstruck.” “There’s this beautiful girl standing in the middle of the living room wearing this short leather skirt and this fluffy jacket, and she looks up at me with these big, beautiful, soulful eyes that look like they have a sad story to tell,” he shared.
At that time, they were both in relationships. Lisa Marie later called off her engagement, and Cage divorced Patricia Arquette. They married in 2002. About three months later, however, the actor filed for divorce.
In Priscilla Presley’s memoir, she discussed the couple’s relationship, saying her daughter and Cage broke up and made up a “dizzying number of times.” “When it was good, it was very, very good. And when it was bad, it was horrid.”
The Exes Became Good Friends
During Lisa Marie and Cage’s short marriage, the media speculated about their relationship, saying that the actor only married Lisa Marie because she was Elvis’ daughter. Lisa Marie pushed back, saying that Cage saw her for who she was.
In an interview with Barbara Walters in 2003, Cage shared how they connected, both being part of artistic families. However, they both had intense personalities and often clashed, leading to the demise of their relationship.
The exes later became good friends, saying that while they often fought when they were together, they had mutual respect for one another. After learning of Lisa Marie’s death in 2023, Cage mourned his ex, saying, “Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken.”
