00:00I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.
00:03Nicolas Cage's life sounds a whole lot like national treasure, but for real.
00:08In a new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the Oscar-winning actor opened up
00:11about his search for historical artifacts and some of his past extravagant purchases.
00:16The Leaving Las Vegas star made headlines a few years ago when he shelled out six figures
00:21for a real dinosaur skull, but then he had to return it for legal purposes.
00:26He told the magazine,
00:30I did spend $276,000 on that.
00:33I bought it at a legitimate auction and found out it was abducted from Mongolia illegally,
00:37and then I had to give it back.
00:39Of course, it should be awarded to its country of origin, but who knew?
00:42Plus, I never got my money back, so that stank.
00:45Okay, and according to the 55-year-old actor, the incident sparked a new interest in him,
00:49a quest for the Holy Grail.
00:51He said,
00:52I started following mythology and I was finding properties that aligned with that.
00:56It was almost like national treasure.
00:58Talk about life imitating art.
00:59On the back of a $100 bill is an etching of Independence Hall,
01:02based on a painting done in the 1780s.
01:06The artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin.
01:08Cage also revealed,
01:09for me it was all about where was the grail?
01:11Is it in Glastonbury?
01:12Does it exist?
01:13His search took him to England, but he says he came to this conclusion.
01:17What I ultimately found is,
01:18what is the grail but Earth itself?
01:20So deep.
01:21So deep.
01:22Alright, for more from the interview,
01:24including how Cage encouraged his young friend Johnny Depp
01:26to get into acting, head to THR.com.
01:29Until next time for The Hollywood Reporter News,
01:31I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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