Nicolas Cage recently shared a fascinating personal tidbit with Stephen Colbert during his interview on The Late Show.
The actor stated that being in his mother’s womb was his earliest memory.
“Listen, I know this sounds completely out there, and I have no idea if it’s true, but occasionally I feel like I can go back to being a fetus and feeling like I could see faces in the dark or something,” Cage said.
The odd revelation was made when Colbert questioned the actor, 59, as part of his “Colbert Questionert” segment.
To everyone’s surprise, Cage responded that his earliest recollection was of being in the womb when the host asked him about it.
“Now that I’m not a fetus anymore, I would have to assume it was possibly vocal vibrations resonating through to me at that stage,” he continued. That is extremely old. I’m not sure. That enters my mind… Even though I’m unsure if I remember being in the womb, the concept has come to me.”
According to a study in the journal Memory in 2021, we can still recall details from when we were two and a half years old. Before, it was thought that people could remember things from around three and a half years old.
The 21-year study found that while it can be challenging to pin down a person’s “earliest memory,” many can recall events from much earlier than was previously thought, and how much a person recalls depends on a variety of conditions.
A person’s earliest memory may be affected by their culture, gender, upbringing, and even how the question is phrased.
Is it conceivable for Nicolas Cage to recall what it was like to be a baby, or is he just making things up to trick us?