Almost 25 years on, one of the stars of Face/Off tells a personal Nic Cage story

He's a class act, is Nicolas Cage.

Alessandro Nivola is one of those actors we're glad to see finally get his due. He's often been one of the best things in a long list of great independent films, stealing scenes in the likes of A Most Violent Year, The Art of Self-Defense and The Neon Demon. He's popped up in a Jurassic Park movie. He memorably played Gavin Harris in Goal! and Goal 2: Living The Dream. And he's about to show us all what he can do as Dickie Moltisanti in the long-awaited Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark. However, if we were to make a bet, we'd surmise that most people reading this will recognise Nivola first and foremost as Pollux Troy in 1997's incredible, ridiculous, enduring action masterpiece Face/Off. In his debut film role, Nivola played the younger Troy brother as a sarcastic eccentric, managing to hold his own alongside one of Nicolas Cage's most memorable mega-acting turns in the form of Castor Troy. While talk of a remake continues to bubble, Nivola was given the chance to reminisce on John Woo's original almost 25 years on when JOE's own Rory Cashin caught up with him ahead of The Many Saints of Newark's release. "It's one of my favourite films that I've been in," Nivola began. "It was my first real film role and it was defining for me in so many ways. I think the biggest thing is it kind of established me as a character actor and set me on that particular path of disguising myself in a million different ways that really has led up to this moment where I finally had a role that allowed me to really do something transformative that was also the centre of the story." Nivola then told a great personal story involving the one, the only Nic Cage. "That was a major moment for me. My working relationship and friendship with Nicolas Cage at that time was also a huge inspiration that I've kept with me ever since. "In fact, this watch I'm wearing right here – he gave it to me for my 25th birthday when we were filming together and I wear it almost every day." You can check out the full interview with Nivola, who gives a notably unique answer to the question of what is his favourite gangster movie, below as part of this week's episode of The Big Reviewski. The Many Saints of Newark arrives in Irish cinemas from Wednesday, 22 September.