Nicolas Cage Elvis Presley Graceland — for years, this combination of names has been tied to one of Hollywood’s most bizarre rumors. Now, the actor is setting the record straight, and the real story is far more moving than anything the tabloids made up.
In a recent interview with The New York Times podcast “The Interview,” Cage, 62, addressed a story that has followed him for over two decades — and replaced it with something genuinely unexpected: a quiet, personal memory that says a lot more about who he is than any wild rumor ever could.
The Rumor That Refused to Die
The story first started circulating in the early 2000s, right around the time Cage was briefly married to Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of the King of Rock and Roll.
According to the rumor, Cage had been given access to the strictly off-limits second floor of Graceland — the floor where Elvis’s private bedroom and the bathroom where he died in 1977 are located. The claim went further, suggesting he had tried on Elvis’s clothing and even posed in the bathroom in the same position Elvis was found.
It was the kind of story that fit the image Cage had built over decades: unpredictable, fearless, and unapologetically eccentric. He famously channeled Elvis in the 1990 film Wild at Heart, adopting the singer’s mannerisms and rebellious charisma. So when the rumor spread, people believed it.
The problem? It wasn’t true.
What Cage Says Actually Happened
Cage pushed back on the story clearly and directly.
“No, that’s not true at all,” he told the interviewer. “What is true is that my ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley and I — there were a couple of nights at Graceland where she wanted to go upstairs, and so I did.”
He confirmed that yes, he was on the second floor. But what he did there was nothing like what people had claimed.
Instead, Cage described lying in Elvis’s bed and staring at a small fiber optic lamp on the nightstand — one of those spinning, color-changing decorative lights that were popular at the time.
“I remember staring at that and being very relaxed by it and calmed by it,” he said. “I enjoyed thinking of him looking at that and how it must have relaxed him.”
He called it “a beautiful, poignant little moment” in his life.
That’s it. No clothes, no toilet, no theatrics. Just a man lying in a bed, watching a lamp change colors, and thinking about the legend who once did the same thing.
Why Access to This Floor Is So Rare
To understand why this story matters, you need to understand just how restricted the second floor of Graceland really is.
Graceland opened to the public as a museum in 1982 — five years after Elvis’s death. Millions of fans have toured the property since then. But the second floor has never been part of that tour, and it never will be.
Here’s what the estate’s official website says about it:
“The upstairs was his private area. When Graceland opened, Priscilla and Lisa felt that the upstairs should remain private — that letting everyone go up there would be disrespectful and inappropriate.”
The only people permitted on that floor are:
- Elvis’s immediate family members
- The Graceland curator
- Vetted staff with specific responsibilities
- Guests personally invited by family members
The exclusivity is extreme. Former President Bill Clinton reportedly sent a private request to view the bedroom — and was turned down. The bathroom where Elvis died has been locked since August 16, 1977, and has not been opened since.
Nicolas Cage got in because Lisa Marie Presley, as Elvis’s daughter and one of the estate’s primary custodians at the time, had the authority to bring him. That access — however brief — puts him in an extraordinarily small group of outsiders who have ever stood in that room.
A Marriage That Made Headlines, Then Ended Fast
Cage and Lisa Marie Presley’s relationship was one of the more surprising pairings in early 2000s Hollywood.
They began dating in 2000, and the couple married in August 2002. The marriage lasted just 107 days before Cage filed for divorce in November of that same year. He later acknowledged that their “strong personalities” made things difficult between them.
Lisa Marie went on to marry musician Michael Lockwood in 2006, while Cage married Alice Kim in 2004. Despite the very short duration of their union, those who knew them said it was intense and genuine while it lasted.
“When it was great, we were very close and we had a lot of laughs,” Cage said in the recent interview.
Lisa Marie Presley passed away on January 12, 2023, at age 54, following a cardiac arrest. Her death sent shockwaves through the entertainment world. She was buried at Graceland, beside her father, her son Benjamin, and other family members.
Who Else Has Seen the Private Floor?
Cage is not the only outsider who has been allowed inside the upper rooms of Graceland, though the list is extremely short.
In 2024, Oprah Winfrey was given a special private tour by Riley Keough — Elvis’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, who is now the sole trustee of the Graceland estate. That visit was filmed and aired as part of a CBS special titled An Oprah Special: The Presleys — Elvis, Lisa Marie and Riley.
Riley inherited the estate after her mother’s death, becoming the new guardian of both the property and Elvis’s legacy.
Other than those rare moments, the floor remains sealed. No cameras, no public access, no exceptions.
Nicolas Cage and His Deep Connection to Elvis
It’s worth noting that Cage’s connection to Elvis goes well beyond his marriage to Lisa Marie.
He is a lifelong, devoted fan of Presley’s music and persona. His performance in Wild at Heart (1990), directed by David Lynch, is widely regarded as one of the most committed Elvis-inspired performances in film history. He wore a snakeskin jacket, sang to the soundtrack, and fully inhabited the spirit of the character as filtered through Elvis.
His birth name is Nicholas Coppola — he changed it early in his career, in part to distance himself from his famous uncle Francis Ford Coppola. Some Elvis biographers and cultural commentators have pointed to the influence of Presley on Cage’s entire approach to performance: big, committed, emotionally unguarded.
For someone with that kind of personal investment in Elvis’s legacy, the idea that he would disrespect the bedroom was always somewhat out of character, regardless of what the rumors claimed.
A New Chapter, a Quieter Life
In the same Times interview, Cage reflected on the wilder chapters of his past — the financial troubles, the impulsive purchases, the turbulent relationships.
He described his life now as “extraordinarily boring” by comparison, and he meant it as a compliment to himself.
“I am not taking any risks whatsoever,” he said. “If I can avoid it, I am really going to go the other way.”
He currently lives a quiet life with his wife Riko Shibata and their young daughter August, born in 2022. His priorities, he said, have shifted entirely.
“I am all about raising my toddler to have a happy and healthy life.”
His only admitted vices at this point? Too much caffeine and too much time doomscrolling on his phone.
It’s a far cry from the tabloid character the rumor mill constructed — and perhaps that’s the point of telling this story now.
FAQ — Nicolas Cage and Elvis Presley’s Graceland
Did Nicolas Cage really visit the private second floor of Graceland? Yes. His then-wife Lisa Marie Presley, as Elvis’s daughter, had the authority to grant access, and she brought Cage upstairs on a couple of nights during their marriage in 2002.
Did Nicolas Cage try on Elvis’s clothes or sit on his toilet? No. Cage has directly denied both of those claims in a recent New York Times interview, calling them untrue.
What did Nicolas Cage actually do in Elvis’s bedroom? He lay in Elvis’s bed and watched a small fiber optic lamp that Elvis used to own. He described it as a “beautiful, poignant moment.”
Who currently controls access to Graceland’s second floor? Riley Keough, Elvis’s granddaughter and Lisa Marie’s daughter, is the sole trustee of the Graceland estate and controls access to the private areas.
Has anyone else outside the family been on the second floor? Very few. Oprah Winfrey was granted a private tour by Riley Keough in 2024. The list of outsiders who have seen the space is extremely short.
Is the bathroom where Elvis died open to the public? No. It has been locked since August 16, 1977 — the day Elvis died — and has never been reopened.
When were Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley married? They married in August 2002 and Cage filed for divorce in November 2002 — a marriage of 107 days.