According to Rogen, Cage expressed interest in appearing in The Green Hornet, the 2011 superhero film Rogen starred in alongside Jay Chou.
But before Rogen and his writing partner, Evan Goldberg, had even wrapped their heads around the suggestion, Cage changed his mind — because he had become interested in trying the look in real life.
Nevertheless, Rogen said, Sony chief Amy Pascal invited him, Goldberg, and Cage to her house to discuss the role.
“We show up at the house and within 60 seconds we were all seated in the living room as he stood in front of us reciting a monologue in a Jamaican accent,” Rogen said.
But the incident came up again, years later, when Rogen and Goldberg were in talks to produce a new film of Cage’s.
“We thought it was about the movie, but we sit down and right away he’s just like, ‘Did you tell James about that meeting we had? The Jamaican meeting?’ We were like, no, I don’t know.