Fast Times cast ripped Nicolas Cage because of his Coppola name

When Nicolas Cage first started out, having made his big screen debut in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, he went credited as Nicolas Coppola, his given name. As the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Cage could use that name to hit the fast track to Hollywood fame…and the cast of Fast Times never let him live it down.

In a new book called “How Coppola Became Cage”, author Zach Schonfeld details that exact evolution of Nicolas Cage, beginning with Fast Times at Ridgemont High. But it wasn’t Sean Penn or Judge Reinhold or even Phoebe Cates who hazed Cage – still a teenager – but rather Eric Stoltz, whose character doesn’t even have a name. As Stoltz put it, Cage took some teasing because of his occasional name-dropping. “Nick was one of the younger ones…He was big for his age, and he was quite bold and animated. In the midst of all this hanging around, on occasion he would drop his uncle’s name. Which isn’t a crime, but it didn’t feel very good. So we would give him guff about it until he stopped…I remember us all laughing and having a good time.”

Still, Stoltz did admit some guilt and jealousy over Nicolas Cage while , adding, “In retrospect, we were undoubtedly envious of his God-given Hollywood access. And he was probably a bit insecure behind all that bravado. But I certainly didn’t have the maturity to understand any of that. So yeah, I did take part in the teasing and I’m sorry I did. I do hope that didn’t cause him too much pain.”

Outside of becoming a constant source of memes, Nicolas Cage has done just fine despite his days of being mocked on the set of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. With a wildly diverse filmography, (multiple failed) ventures into big budget comic book movies, an Academy Award, and a total box office take pegged around $4.8 billion worldwide, he remains one of the most fascinating and ever-present figures in movies. Stoltz, meanwhile, would get canned from Back to the Future…

Nicolas Cage would drop the Coppola after Fast Times at Ridgemont High, taking on Cage – partly lifted from Marvel’s Luke – for his next movie, Valley Girl.

What are your favorite Nicolas Cage roles? Give us your picks below!