It’s not always easy being Nicolas Cage. One minute you are donning traditional dress at a film festival, the next a meme mocking your expression has quickly spread across the internet.
The Hollywood star was pictured in Kazakhstan, where he is reportedly attending the 13th Eurasia international film festival, and Twitter went into meltdown.
Many expressed mock-concern for Cage’s rabbit-in-the-headlights expression captured on Sunday, and questioned whether he was fully complicit in his visit to the central Asian country not renowned for its film production.
Some questioned the film star’s sartorial choices – pairing a fur-lined coat and suit with trainers. While others imagined him as a new addition to Donald Trump’s squad.
Max Seddon, a Financial Times reporter, pointed out that former French president François Hollande appeared in similar garb when he visited Kazakhstan in 2014, adding that Cage hadn’t gone the full Steven Seagal, who was pictured on an illuminated horse as the guest of honour at the World Nomad Games in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan last September.
The Eurasia international film festival will run for the next week and hopes to foster collaborations between central Asian film-makers and the rest of the world. According to a local news agency Cage also used his trip to visit disabled children and help the mayor of Astana to plant trees in the capital.
- This article was amended on 24 July 2017 to remove a reference to the first lady of Kazakhstan