Ahead of the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony, Oren Uziel looks back on meeting Nicolas Cage over an 11 a.m. whole branzino at Bottega Louie—and says the collaboration that followed made Cage’s spontaneity, professionalism, and creative instincts feel “su
On June 4, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars behind some of the year’s best television series.
Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors spotlights the people crafting shows worth toasting. In the days leading up to the Los Angeles event, IndieWire has been showcasing that work with new interviews and tributes from peers.
Among the recipients being spotlighted is the Innovation Award, and in one of those tributes, “Spider-Noir” creator Oren Uziel remembers his first meeting with Nicolas Cage.
Uziel says the first time he met Cage was over an 11 a.m. whole branzino at Bottega Louie. a French patisserie in downtown Los Angeles known for its “otherworldly macarons.” He frames the moment like a preview of what he would learn later: Cage. Uziel writes. “is never going to make the expected choice. ” and he’s “never going to go halfway.” He also points out that Cage wouldn’t let a table full of macarons “upstage” him.
Going into that lunch, Uziel says he already understood what “we all know” about Cage—that he’s a singular movie star and a talent who can move between drama, comedy, romance, horror, and even playing himself in ways that still land.
The memory matters because. Uziel says. the Nicolas Cage he got to know over the next two years making “Spider-Noir” matched the impression. only more so. He describes Cage as a steady professional—someone who was never late. always ready to work. and “unnervingly prepared. ” to the point where Uziel believes Cage had every line memorized before the final script was even completed.
He adds that Cage was also generous, kind, and “fucking hilarious,” but the most defining trait, Uziel says, was the way Cage makes choices that might look out of the box—yet end up feeling like the only possible move.
Uziel connects that to what he calls great writing: “Surprising but inevitable.” His conclusion is blunt and admiring: he describes Nicolas Cage as a “human cheat code.”
“Spider-Noir” is now streaming on Prime Video.
The story of that 11 a.m. branzino doesn’t just sit as an entertaining anecdote—it sits right beside the details of the “next two years” of production Uziel shared with Cage, where professionalism and unpredictability seem to operate together, not apart.
And as June 4 approaches, with the Los Angeles ceremony set to spotlight the creators, artisans, and performers behind TV worth celebrating, Uziel’s memory offers a small but vivid clue about why Cage’s creative presence—down to the lunch order—made such an impression on the “Spider-Noir” team.
Oren Uziel Nicolas Cage Spider-Noir IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 Innovation Award Bottega Louie Prime Video Los Angeles
11 a.m. branzino sounds made up but also kinda iconic.
Wait so Spider-Noir is streaming now? I thought that was like a movie?? Also macarons upstaging him? Nicolas Cage would 100% get petty about pastries lol.
“Never going to go halfway” is the whole vibe of Cage I guess. But branzino at 11am?? Isn’t that like, too early for seafood unless you’re rich or in some cult. Also the article says he wasn’t late and had lines memorized BEFORE the script?? That part sounds like fan fiction to me.
I don’t even care about branzino, I care that IndieWire is doing another awards thing again. Innovation Award for what exactly, like best acting choices? Cage being a “human cheat code” is funny but also… he’s always been weirdly prepared? Like maybe writers just don’t do enough and he makes up for it, idk.