Nicolas Cage reveals "nobody" wanted to make 'Mom and Dad'.

The 53-year-old actor has admitted it was difficult to get anyone on board the horror movie - which sees him play a father named Brent who is on the cusp of hitting a mid-life crisis - to help produce the movie as Voltage passed up on the chance of backing the project, which was eventually snapped up by entertainment agencies XYZ and Armory Films.

Speaking to Deadline Online about the hurdles faced with the production, he said: "Nobody wanted to make this movie."

And the 'National Treasure' star believes his latest venture with director Brian Taylor - who created the horror movie which was released earlier this month - was his time to "exercise [his] belief in freedom of speech".

Nicolas continued: "I saw this as my right to exercise my belief in freedom of speech. This was Sex Pistols from start to finish, this is punk rock."

Nicolas and Brian have previously worked with one another on 'Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance', and the movie legend believes the pair work well as a team because he needs little direction when the duo are on set together.

He explained: "He [Brian] knows how serious I am about the work. I know how serious he is about his vision. I fit in very easily with Brian. He doesn't have to direct me much, he just lets me go. It's like Kurosawa and Mifune."

Meanwhile, the 'Con Air' star - who has sons Kal-El, 11, with his wife Alice Kim, and 26-year-old Weston with Christina Fulton - has revealed he embarked on a career in the entertainment industry because he wants to "rock" and "shock" his audiences.

Speaking about his career at the helm of the film industry, he said: "That's why I got in the movie business, I want to rock you, I want to shock you,"