Nicolas Cage Says He Convinced Johnny Depp to Become an Actor

Nicolas Cage is opening up about how he helped Johnny Depp get into acting.

During a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the 55-year-old National Treasure actor says he encouraged the 56-year-old Pirates of the Caribbean actor to act while he was renting his apartment back in the 1980′s.

“We were good friends, and we would play Monopoly, and he was winning a game, and I was watching him and I said, ‘Why don’t you just try acting?’” Nicolas shared.

“He wanted to be a musician at the time, and he told me, ‘No, I can’t act.’ I said, ‘I think you can act,’” Nicolas continued. “So I sent him to meet with my agent. She sent him out on his first audition, which was A Nightmare on Elm Street. He got the part that day. Overnight sensations don’t happen. But it happened with him.”

Johnny Depp then went on book the role of Glen Lantz in the 1984 horror flick before starring in the 21 Jump Street TV series three years later – catapulting his career!