“Wild at Heart and Weird on Top” — Nicolas Cage’s Preparation for His Academy Award

In 1990, John O’Brien published his first novel, Leaving Las Vegas. The book is about Ben Sanderson, a hollywood screenwriter who decides to get rid of his possessions, sell what he can, and drive to Las Vegas where he will drink himself to death. During this slow suicide in the desert, Ben meets a prostitute named Sera and they become romantically entangled. Even with Sera by his side, Ben continues to drink and dies by the end. In 1994, John O’Brien’s novel would be made into a film starring Nicolas Cage and Elizabeth Shue. O’Brien killed himself two weeks after hearing this news.

O’Brien’s tale is largely based on his own life. While writing his second novel, The Assault on Tony’s, he almost lost his job at a cafe and he destroyed his marriage because of excessive drinking. His alcoholism started before writing Leaving Las Vegas. Getting turned down by publishing companies was the catalyst to his addiction and depression. Unfortunately, O’Brien couldn’t function without alcohol by the time he was getting some acclaim. In 1994, weeks before his death, O’Brien was sent to the hospital after getting beaten up. The doctor informed him that if he didn’t stop drinking, he would die. In the end, O’Brien would die form a self-inflicted bullet wound and not his alcoholism.