Marco Kyris had one really amazing job, and it set him up for life (I presume). For ten years, Marco was the stand-in for superstar actor Nic Cage on twenty films starting with Leaving Las Vegas all the way to The Weather Man. Kyris’ story is told in Blake Johnston and Kelso Steinhoff’s Uncaged: A Stand-In Story.
It all began when Marco was hired by his extras agency to be a stand-in on Leaving Las Vegas. During some downtime, Kyris thought it would be fun to sit in Cage’s chair on set. He was caught and immediately summoned to Cage’s trailer. Instead of getting fired, he became Cage’s professional stand-in from film to film. Overnight, Marco gave up his non-existent acting career and replaced it with the first-class life as part of Cage’s entourage, was on set for his big Hollywood productions, and sadly never appeared in a single one of those movies.
We find in the documentary that the job came with fabulous perks (thanks to Nic’s generosity), but living this life also came at a price. For added stress, Kyris knew the gravy train would inevitably come to an end.
“For ten years, Marco was the stand-in for superstar actor Nic Cage on twenty films…”
Johnston and Steinhoff’s doc is told via talking head testimonial by Kyris himself, intercut with clips of vintage Cage clips and quotes. All with photos of Kyris dressed as Cage set next to photos of Cage from every film. There’s also a few moments of mimicry of the man who would be Cage. That lucky son-of-a-bitch.
There’s really only one reason to see Uncaged: A Stand-In Story. The reason is that it’s so cool. This guy is getting paid a lot of money, hanging out with Nic Cage, and he just stands there pretending to be his boss. I love this story. It’s so cool.
Uncaged: A Stand-In Story screened at the 2019 San Diego International Film Festival.
"…testimonial by Kyris himself, intercut with clips of vintage Cage clips and quotes."
