Wild at Heart star Nicolas Cage is paying tribute to its director, David Lynch, who passed away in January.

When David Lynch passed away last month, a stream of tributes from those he worked closely with came in. We can now add Wild at Heart star Nicolas Cage to the list, who says that David Lynch was unlike any other director he has ever worked with.

Speaking with Empire for their April 2025 issue as which contains tribute to the director, Nicolas Cage said, “I never had more fun working with anybody than I did with David Lynch. And I think Wild At Heart is one of the best movies I’ve ever made. I’ll never be able to do another movie like that. [Lynch] cannot be replaced.” Lynch and Cage seem like a match made in heaven (where everything is fine) but they sadly only ever worked together on Wild at Heart — although it’s just the sort of film you’d expect them to collaborate on. In other words, you have to see it to believe it. And even then…

Cage also noted that that time in his career was a tough one but Lynch’s free-flowing vibe let him explore a side he hadn’t been permitting himself to. “I said, ‘Hey, David, is it okay if I have fun while making this movie?’ And he said, ‘Nickster, it’s not only okay, it’s necessary.’ At that time, I was doing pictures like [Birdy] with Alan Parker, and I was trying do the whole De Niro torture-myself thing, and David freed me from all that. He took that all away just by giving me the greenlight to have fun on his set and to enjoy it.” That’s a nice anecdote about Wild at Heart, but that Lynch called Cage “Nickster” is by far the best takeaway here.

While Wild at Heart didn’t rank among Nicolas Cage’s personal top 5 favorite movies of his when he made his list last year, no doubt the death of David Lynch helped it get near the top this time around. And if it gives people another reason to rediscover the surreal wonder of Lynch’s filmography, all the better.

Are you a fan of Wild at Heart? What could you envisioned Cage and Lynch working on together?