Nicolas Cage, the 48-year-old actor known for his over-the-top action roles, hasn't been so fortunate when it comes to the box office recently. His latest film "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" was expected to dominate ticket sales on its openi
Nicolas Cage, the 48-year-old actor known for his over-the-top action roles, hasn't been so fortunate when it comes to the box office recently. His latest film "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" was expected to dominate ticket sales on its opening weekend, but theater goers opted for other choices instead. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

If you think having a simple lifestyle in Sin City is impossible, think again, because actor Nicolas Cage has made it happen.

After disappearing from the media limelight, Cage told NBC's “Today” show that he’s been living a low-key lifestyle in Las Vegas with his wife and seven-year-old son.

"I have a simple life, and I'm a lot lighter because of it. I get up in the morning, I drive my kid to school, I go home, I work out, I take my wife to lunch, I pick my kid up from school, and that's it.”

The actor, who is best known for roles in such films as “Face/Off” and “National Treasure,” said the “paparazzi chased” him out of Los Angeles and forced him to slow down.

“I think it’s no secret that I’ve tried to take chances in my career and also in my life and I believe to not live in fear. And I would cringe when I would have to say those lines, but that’s the character,” he said.

Cage was a guest on the “Today” show Monday to promote his new animated movie, “The Croods.”

He said he opted for a simpler lifestyle partly after getting into some debt problems last year.

Cage, who is one of Hollywood's highest paid actors, said he went on a spending spree over a five-year period. He landed in some trouble when he had to pay back some $6 million in tax debt.

In addition to the tax debt, Cage had to pay off a $624,934.64 tax lien on expensive gifts given to family and friends between 2004 and 2009, an article in November said. In 2010, the actor said he had paid more than $70 million in taxes over his career and vowed to finish paying the rest back.

The actor at one point owned as many as 15 lavish properties. Cage has sold most of them off, including his beloved Midford Castle in England, an 11th century castle in Etzelwang, Bavaria, and an 8,300 square-foot mansion in Newport Beach, Calif.

Cage also owned some macabre assets, including a pyramid-like tomb in New Orleans, built for his burial; a $150,000 octopus and other exotic pets; a $276,000, 67-million-year-old Tarbosaurus dinosaur skull; a full collection of shrunken heads; 15 cars, including nine Rolls Royces and several Ferraris; two yachts; a 45-acre island in the Bahamas and a gulfstream jet.