Could Nic Cage Ruin This Actor's Career?

There are seldom young actors who are so talented they overshadow their seasoned adult counterparts. Yet such was the case in MUD, 2012's tale of two Arkansas teens who come across a drifter named after wet dirt. In the film, Matthew McConaughey delivers one of the best performances of the year, portraying the homeless vagabond who tells tall tales of love to win over the hearts, and pocketbooks of the teens that find him. Yet it is young Sheridan who ultimately wins our hearts. And this is the reason he was cast in Joe, a similar story with a polar opposite lead. Sheridan stars opposite Nicolas Cage in the first trailer for Joe, out Thursday.

IMDB says Joe is about "An ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin."

But for Sheridan, the problem with starring in a successful, epic film like MUD, (and The Tree of Life before it) is that as an actor, it's expected that your next film will be ever grander — an even better performing film alongside even more respected actors. With Nicolas Cage, the internet's favorite meme, starring as the film's lead, it's difficult to imagine Joe surpassing the critical acclaim of MUD. But even watching the film's first trailer, we are reminded that Cage is an Oscar-winning actor (for what? ...Who the hell remembers) who was, at once point, respected in cinema. But after a slew of awful gigs (Drive Angry, Ghost Rider), and a delightful YouTube complication of "Nicolas Cage Losing his Shit", he soon became the anti-leading man. And in Joe's first trailer, he seems to be as psychotic as ever, pushing people into walls, getting in fights with the police — usual Cage fare.

And that's all well and fine. Cage has found his angry niche, we just hope it won't affect the longevity or credibility of the talented Tye Sheridan, who was only 15 when he starred in MUD, and even younger in The Tree of Life. Joe's director, David Gordon Green, said of Sheridan's MUD performance:

He could handle a venomous cottonmouth snake without protection. That showed me an actor that was fearless. If it was appropriate for the role or his character, he would get in that mind-set and he could do anything—he would do anything. There’s a beauty to that.

Watch the trailer for Joe below, and let's all lower our heads and pray that Cage's tired performance won't weigh down the likes of Sheridan's.

Image: Getty Images