Watch Nicolas Cage unfurl his experiences on Inside the Actors Studio this Sunday only on Pix. The son of comparative literature professor August Coppola and the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas changed his last name to Cage early in his career to make his own reputation, succeeding brilliantly with a host of classic, quirky roles by the late 1980s.

Initially studying theatre at Beverly Hills High (though he dropped out at 17), he secured a bit part in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) -- most of which was cut, dashing his hopes and leading to a job selling popcorn at the Fairfax Theater, thinking that would be the only route to a movie career.

To find out more about how Cage got his first break and much more … Read On…

- A job reading lines with auditioners for Uncle Francis's Rumble Fish (1983) landed him a role in that film.

- His one-time passion for method acting reached a personal limit when he smashed a street-vendor's remote-control car to achieve the sense of rage needed for his gangster character in The Cotton Club (1984).

- He got Johnny Depp his first acting job.

- Took his last name from a comic book character, Luke Cage.

- Loves to improvise, occasionally to the annoyance of other cast members.

- Collects comic books and sees them as being today's equivalent of mythology.

- Ate a real cockroach in the film Vampire's Kiss (1989), it reportedly took three takes. He once said about the experience, "Every muscle in my body didn't want to do it, but I did it anyway."

- David Lynch referred to him as the "Jazz musician of acting."

Sit back relax and catch Cage as he talks to you this Sunday on Inside the Actors Studio at 7 pm only on Pix!!!