Nicolas un-Caged - star talks about his new film

Nicolas Cage is an international film star, so you'd expect him to jet into Britain for an interview from his yacht in Monte Carlo, or his beach pad in Malibu. Instead, he arrives at a London hotel from the celeb-packed town of Bath.

It just so happens Nic is a gigantic Anglophile and has all but moved his family to Britain, as well as purchasing a run-down castle in Bavaria.

"I genuinely like the English weather," he says, without a hint of irony. "I like the rain, I like the gloomy clouds. Plus, I've never had much luck with my allergies and sinuses and the rain keeps the pollen count down, so I feel healthier and can breathe better.

"I feel being in Europe I have culture and sophistication and art and different points of view at my fingertips," he continues. "At this time in my life, I want to give that to my family and I want to grow in some way from that.

"I know that I'm a visitor when I come to your country, even though I live here part-time. I try to be someone who wants to accept and become part of the culture and learn from the culture and contribute in some way. I see myself as someone who has an international mind."

His desire to give young son Kal-El (whose mother is Cage's wife Alice Kim and who was named by his comic-book geek dad after the real Krypton name of Superman) a European-style education, means the star has been spending less and less time in his homeland. It's a habit exacerbated by his latest movie - the sequel National Treasure: Book Of Secrets - which is set mostly in Paris and London.

"I want to make it increasingly Inter-National Treasure," he explains.

"I want to go everywhere."

The film, which is, surprisingly, Nic's first ever sequel, once again follows the exploits of Benjamin Gates - a history buff and explorer.

This time around, Gates finds himself having to exonerate an ancestor who has been implicated in Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

It's a fairly threadbare plot, but being a Hollywood blockbuster, it more than makes up for it with break-ins to Buckingham Palace, the kidnapping of the President, the introduction of Dame Helen Mirren as Gates's mother and a mind-blowing car chase around the streets of London.

"I was not comfortable driving on the English roads and we had City Of London police all over us while I was trying to do that," Cage remembers. "It's very hard for me to relax on English roads. I'm still not comfortable with it, so it's a work in progress."

He also gets a chance to pontificate on some of our traditional culinary delights during a scene inside Buckingham Palace.

"That was a totally improvised scene," he laughs. "But I love bangers and mash. I like English food. Bubble and squeak is not something I'm familiar with, but that happened on the spur of the moment. It just came out of me, all these different English food ideas!

"Comments about bubble and squeak and bangers and mash and smoked eel pie. And then haggis just came out because it was still British, but the comment of it was that it was such a strange thing to eat."

More importantly, the film - which has just climbed over the 200 million dollar mark at the US box office - gives Nic a chance to indulge in one of his biggest interests, history.

"I think what I like about old things is that if you are in the presence of it and you use a little bit of imagination it feels as if you can time travel in some way," he says. "You can feel or recall the events of the past and think about things that have happened there and hopefully get some inspiration."

Indeed, he reveals that he particularly loves Somerset, because it "emanates spirits" and "ancient history".

"American history is not my strong point," he adds. "I learnt more about ancient history when I was in school. So going through these two different movies gave me a chance to look a little deeper into my own country's history."

There are so far no plans for National Treasure 3, with Nic instead focusing on upcoming roles in Far East-flavoured action flick Bangkok Dangerous and G-Force, in which he provides the voice for a specially-trained guinea pig who is dispatched on a top-secret, world-saving mission.

He hopes to direct again too; his debut Sonny came out way back in 2002.

"I have some ideas and I will in the next two years direct my next feature," he says, confirming that he will also star. "That seems to be the unfortunate reality of actors trying to become film makers, is that we have to cast ourselves, otherwise we can't get money to make the movie."

He is also busy spending time with his family, as well as doing up his Bavarian pad. "It's something of a ruin that needs to be restored with love and care," he says. "I think that's why I gravitate towards these kinds of places, because I feel there's a historic and charitable effect to bringing these wonderful old architectural buildings back. When it is restored, I will have family gatherings there and hopefully spend my holidays there."

However, he'll need to make sure that he hires builders who speak good English, because his previous efforts to learn German have gone right out the window. "I'm slowly beginning to feel that Americans trying to speak German sound ridiculous, so my lessons are not current," he says.

National Treasure: Book Of Secrets is released February 8.