Thank you internet gods for this gloriously weird photo of Nic Cage in Kazakhstan
When the internet gods bestow upon us a truly eccentric photo of Nicolas Cage, you can count on the internet to go to town on it. Say hello to your new favourite Nic Cage meme: "Nicolas Cage in Kazakhstan".
A photo of Cage in Kazakhstan wearing traditional Kazakhstani clothing while standing next to the country's First Lady Sara Nazarbayeva emerged on Twitter on Sunday. But, it was Cage's extremely odd facial expression which made this photo truly meme-worthy.
Cage was actually attending the 13th Eurasia International Film Festival in the country's capital, Astana, when this moment was captured...
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Some people made reference to the previous occasions visitors have donned traditional clothing while visiting Kazakhstan, namely France's former president François Hollande.
Cage's glazed-over stare was the subject of forensic analysis on Twitter:
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Is he adjusting to a recent teleportation? Is the stare the result of some serious disorientation?
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Is he having an existential crisis? (Probably.)
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Is he "dead inside"?
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The internet -- blessed with new meme fodder -- didn't waste any time in photoshopping the hell out of Cage. Here he is photoshopped into this awkward AF photo of the Trump family with the Pope.
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If we're going all out in the meme stakes, you'd better chuck in a shot of Chris Christie reclining on a beach.
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Of course, adding more Cage facial expressions to the mix is really the perfect recipe for photoshop glory.
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And, if you want to make things even more awkward, add the king of awkwardness himself, Jeremy Corbyn.
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Good work, internet.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
