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The screenwriting partners
Nick Cage
Played by: Nicolas Cage
- Actor Allusion: Inevitably, the movie delivers an onslaught of references
to his career highlights. - Adam Westing: Nicolas Cage as portrayed in the movie, according to the actor himself, is much more neurotic and anxiety-ridden than the real Cage was during that period of time.
- Ambiguously Bi: He declares love to Javi as well as to Olivia, on top of fantasizing about making out with his younger self.
- Becoming the Mask: Nick must go from fighting evil in movies, to fighting evil for real. Additionally, when he appoints Javi as co-writer of his next movie, he only does so as an excuse to continue searching Javi's estate for Maria. However, Nick ends up genuinely enjoying the process of writing with him.
- Bumbling Dad: His relationship with his daughter isn't exactly the best, as he seems to think the best way to bond with her is to force his interests onto her. Then there's the embarrassing display that was him attending his daughter's birthday while drunk.
- Catchphrase: While discussing his chances of coming "back" into the limelight, he insists, "Not that I/we went anywhere!" Afterwards, the other person assures him, "Not that you/we went anywhere."
- Chekhov's Skill: Javi often reminds Nick that he did many of his own stunts (citing the running in National Treasure and the driving in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) as particular examples) to point out that Nick does have the skills to survive their current situations.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Nick sees a $6,000 wax statue of Castor Troy and is horrified, calling it "grotesque"... but offers Javi $20,000 for it, in reference to Cage's bizarre spending habits.
- Drama Queen: Suffice to say that Cage retains his flair for the dramatic when the cameras aren't rolling.
- Excellent Judge of Character: He considers himself one anyway due to his acting background. He states to an incredulous Vivian and Martin that he thinks his intuition about Javi not being a bad guy is more accurate than 5 years of active CIA research and monitoring. And he's 100% right. Javi is merely an unwilling figurehead for his cousin Lucas who is the real crimelord.
- Famed In-Story: As expected of world-famous movie star. The plot is kicked off when one Nicolas Cage's wealthy superfans offers him a million dollars to attend his birthday party. Nick's best-known movies are either name-dropped or excerpted throughout the film, and Vivian stops him for a selfie while planting a tracker on him.
- First-Name Basis: Javi goes from addressing Nick as, "Mr. Cage," to addressing him as, "Nick," the more time they spend together.
- Her Boyfriend's Jacket: Javi gives him his Gucci suede loafers after deciding that they look nicer on Nick. Even though Nick finds them inconvenient for running, he doesn't remove them until his next complete change of outfit, and presumably doesn't dispose of them even after that.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: How Nick is generally portrayed. He's a grumpy, pompous alcoholic, but he's also Nice to the Waiter (well at least when he isn't at his lowest, see his first interaction with Javi), doing his best to be a good father, and he bonds quickly with Javi.
- Large Ham: He hasn't exactly outgrown his "schmacting" days.
- Nice to the Waiter: Nick is shown to be polite and cordial with service staff, and happily stops to take a picture with Vivian when he thinks she is just a fan. Ironically, the only example where this doesn't appear to be the case is with Javi, who he initially mistakes for a simple boatman.
- Papa Wolf: He retrieves both his daughter and the Catalonian president's daughter from Lucas.
- Screw Yourself: One of his later fantasies has him making out with his younger self.
- Start My Own: After one director too many rejects him from a new project, he and Javi team up to write his next big hit.
Javier Gutierrez
Played by: Pedro Pascal
- Actor Allusion: Nick slips a nod to one of Pedro Pascal's best-known TV roles, The Mandalorian, when he quips that the only surefire bets at the box office include Marvel Comics adaptations and Star Wars.
- Actually, I Am Him: When Nick rides a speedboat to Javi's estate, Nick assumes that the captain is one of the staff. However, once they arrive at the estate, the man introduces himself as Javi.
- Affably Evil: Despite Javi's involvement in dealing drugs and weapons, he's very welcoming towards Nick and eager to share his enthusiasm for movies. Turns out he's barely even evil (boundary-invading elements of his Loony Fan personality aside). He's not personally involved with his family's criminal organization but instead just acts as the public face while his cousin actually runs it.
- Affectionate Nickname: Nick takes to calling Javi "Javs" as their friendship develops.
- Ambiguously Bi: Despite his romance with Gabriela, he sometimes seems to have a Celeb Crush on Nick.
- Ascended Fanboy: Javi achieves his desire to write a Nicolas Cage movie.
- Author Avatar: The real movie's writers have referred to Javi as a personification of their own love of Nicolas Cage and now-fulfilled desires to write for him.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Javi is dorky and childish at times, yet is a surprisingly skilled gunfighter.
- Decoy Leader: Javi is ultimately revealed to be this; his father's criminal organization was taken over by his cousin after his father's death and Javi just acts as the public face of the group.
- Disney Death: During the final chase sequence, Javi chooses to stay behind to hold off Lucas and his men, resulting in him getting shot. He later makes a recovered reappearance on the night his movie premieres.
- Eccentric Artist: After Javi starts experiencing unplanned obstacles in his efforts to have one of his scripts become a Nicolas Cage movie, he executes unconventional tactics to first get Nick back into a filmmaking mood, then come up with a new story. Judging by how many moviegoers love the final product, the tactics all prove worth it.
- Eccentric Millionaire: Javi is richer than a millionaire, but still qualifies by sending so much of his money on movie memorabilia, and by going to extreme lengths to write a future Nicolas Cage blockbuster, despite having no professional screenwriting experience.
- Endearingly Dorky: He wins over Nick by expressing a similarly niche taste in cinema.
- Establishing Character Moment: By transporting Nick to his estate himself, rather than having a servant transport him, he proves from the get-go that he wants to spend as much time with his favorite actor as possible.
- Grew a Spine: He finds the courage to stand up to Lucas by opposing his orders and efforts to kill Nicolas Cage.
- Her Boyfriend's Jacket: Nick gives him his taos taupe checkerboard Vans slip-ons in exchange for the aforementioned loafers, after both friends agree that the slip-ons suit Javi well.
- Hidden Depths: Javi's love of cinema and aspirations of screenwriting have given him a stronger artistic side than you'd expect from a gangster. Or at least a gangster's son. The screenplay that he and Nick end up writing ends up being so good that Cage gets a standing ovation.
- Human Footstool: During the Mushroom Samba sequence, Javi helps Nick climb over a wall by crouching down onto the ground, then ordering Nick to stand on his back.
- Large Ham: Thanks in part to the real Nicolas Cage's influence on Pedro Pascal, Javi is prone to Suddenly Shouting and contorting his face.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Lucas ordered Maria's kidnapping without telling Javi, making it impossible for the CIA to learn from him where she went. By the time he deducts her location, the cartel kills Martin and Vivian.
- Loony Fan: He loves Nicolas Cage to the point of having several memorabilia with Nick's likeness, paying a hefty fee to invite him to his birthday party, and scripting an idea for a future Nick Cage vehicle. Javi also takes movies too seriously for someone who doesn't professionally make any, as evidenced when he cries that Nick would "turn [his] back on the entire human race" if he quits acting.
- Meta Casting: Nicolas Cage fanboy Pedro Pascal as Nicolas Cage fanboy Javi.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Nick proposes to Javi that "bad guys" abduct his daughter in his next movie, Javi begins worrying that Nick's family issues have begun limiting his creativity, so he unexpectedly invites Addy and Olivia to work out their problems with him in Mallorca. This leads to Lucas' goons kidnapping Addy.
- Quirky Curls: Extravagant movie nerd Javi usually sports some stylishly wavy hair.
- Shrinking Violet: When he shares his writings with other people, he leaves before seeing their reactions, out of fear that they'll ridicule him for his inexperience.
- Situational Sociability: Despite his aforementioned shyness, he can handle reciting speeches to crowds, such as the one he gives at his birthday party about Guarding Tess.
The CIA agents
Vivian
Played by: Tiffany Haddish
- Do Not Go Gentle: After being shot once, she spends her dying moments shooting as many of the gang members as she can.
- Killed Off for Real: By the end of the movie, Vivian and Martin are both killed by Lucas’s men.
- Mission Control: She assigns Nick with missions to foil Javi's gang's schemes.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Vivian tries to indirectly trick Javi into revealing Maria's location, by suggesting that Nick add a kidnapping to the script. When he proposes to Javi that "bad guys" abduct his daughter, Javi begins worrying that Nick's family issues have begun limiting his creativity, so he unexpectedly invites Addy and Olivia to work out their problems with him in Mallorca. This leads to Lucas' goons kidnapping Addy.
Martin
Played by: Ike Barinholtz
- Killed Off for Real: By the end of the movie, Vivian and Martin are both killed by Lucas’s men.
- Killed Offscreen: Martin is shown already dead when Lucas kidnaps Addy and uses Vivian to lure Cage and Javi into a trap.
- Mr. Exposition: He helps Vivian detail Javi's criminal reputation to Nick.
- Straight Man: He acts more skeptical than Vivian or Nick does regarding the thought of a movie star spying for the CIA.
Nicolas Cage's associates
Nicky
Played by: Nicolas Kim Coppola
- Credits Gag: The end titles credit the role to Nicolas Cage's birth name.
- Digital De-Aging: Applied to revert Nicolas Cage's appearance closer to this 1990 interview.
- Imaginary Friend: On a few occasions, Nick receives advice from an imaginary personification of his younger, more successful self.
- Large Ham: He shows no restraint when it comes to expressing himself.
- Other Me Annoys Me: Goes both ways with Nick; Nick finds Nicky too immature and greedy, and Nicky finds Nick too soft-hearted. In the deleted scenes, Nick actually shoots Nicky when they disagree over whether or not Nick can save Addy.
Richard Fink
Played by: Neil Patrick Harris
- Last-Name Basis: Nick only refers to him by his last name.
- Mr. Exposition: As Nicolas Cage's talent agent, his conversations with Nick set up such information as the actor's financial woes, and his invitation from Javi.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He initially doubts Javi's worth as a screenwriter, ordering his assistant to throw away a script he sends as a sample. However, when another script written by Javi becomes an actual Nicolas Cage movie, Fink adds to the accolades it earns.
Olivia Henson
Played by: Sharon Horgan
- Chekhov's Skill: She uses her skills as a makeup artist in the final confrontation to create a disguise for Nick to sneak into Lucas' compound.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She accuses Nick of prioritizing his career above his family, until they work together to save Addy from Lucas.
- Mama Bear: She helps Nick rescue Addy by infiltrating Lucas' compound in disguise.
Addy Cage
Played by: Lilly Mo Sheen
- Missing Child: Lucas kidnaps her as a trap for Nick.
- Rebellious Spirit: She resists Nick's efforts to force his interests onto her, seeing them as attempts to mold her into a younger, female Nicolas Cage.
Javier Gutierrez's associates (UNMARKED SPOILERS)
Gabriela Lucchesi
Played by: Alessandra Mastronardi
- Action Girlfriend: She helps Javi hold off Lucas and his goons.
- Girl Friday: Javi's dutiful assistant.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: Javi couldn't marry her due to concerns that rival gangs would target her.
Lucas Gutierrez
Played by: Paco León
- Big Bad: The true leader of The Cartel and mastermind behind Maria's kidnapping.
- Jerkass: He ridicules Nick's struggles landing another gig, as well as Javi's aspirations of screenwriting. When Javi tries to assure Lucas that he didn't know about Nick's ties to the CIA, Lucas also attempts to shoot Javi rather than believe him.
- The Man Behind the Man: To Javi.
- Walking Spoiler: A viewer can't say much about him without revealing him as evil.
The hostage
Maria Delgado
Played by: Karin Vankova
- Fangirl: Of Nicolas Cage; before her abduction, she was last seen watching Con Air at home. When Nick finally finds her, she also becomes awestruck to meet him in person.
- Missing Child: The movie begins with the kidnapping of Maria Delgado, the Catalonian president's daughter, whom the CIA suspects Javi's gang of abducting.
