The Sun reports that the Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans actor only eats meat from animals that mate in a 'dignified' way

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Nicolas Cage has reportedly revealed that he will eat only animals who mate in a dignified fashion, a dietary preference which apparently rules out pork. According to the Sun, the Oscar-winning actor is happy to eat fish or poultry because their love lives are more decorous.

"I have a fascination with fish, birds, whales – sentient life – insects, reptiles," says Cage, who is currently getting great reviews for his performance as a drug-addled detective in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans, a quasi-remake of Abel Ferrara's 1992 tale of a destructive cop.

He continues: "I actually choose the way I eat according to the way animals have sex. I think fish are very dignified with sex. So are birds.

"But pigs, not so much. So I don't eat pig meat or things like that. I eat fish and fowl."

Cage, whose glowing Bad Lieutenant notices follow praise for his role in Kick-Ass, is known for having an eccentric fascination with animals. He has a tattoo of a lizard wearing a top hat, has owned a pet octopus and once ate a cockroach for a movie role.

For Bad Lieutenant, which is out in the UK on Friday, he bought a snake with two heads to protect him during filming in New Orleans. The creature was later donated to a zoo.