The Simpsons had Nicolas Cage in mind for major role in one of the show’s best episodes

The Simpsons crew had initially considered casting Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage as a one-off character, a member of the writing team has claimed.

Josh Weinstein confirmed that, before they decided to draft Hank Azaria to voice the character, they had contemplated asking Cage. The Oscar winner would feature in both Con Air and Face/Off shortly after The Simpsons episode in question aired. William H. Macy was also considered for the role, but both he and Cage missed out in favour of Azaria. The episode Homer’s Enemy, which released on May 4, 1997, had initially been plotted with Cage or Macy voicing Frank Grimes. Weinstein explained how the decision was made with a post to X.

He wrote: “Before we realised Hank Azaria was the perfect choice for Frank Grimes – thank God we did because it’s one of the best performances ever – we briefly thought it might be a spot for a guest performer & considered asking William H. Macy or Nicolas Cage.”

The writer, who also penned episodes of Gravity Falls and Futurama, says the decision not to cast Cage was made because the team realised they needed an in-house talent. He added: “For like an afternoon – before we realised it had to be a Simpsons insider – we were like ‘Nicolas Cage could be great in this role’ – and he would’ve been – but still only a fraction of what Hank’s amazing performance was.”

In response to another fan, Weinstein added: “No, in fact, we realised it had to be someone, like you said, who lived and breathed the show and was intimately familiar with all the characters and their stories. The script didn’t change, just our realisation of who had to play Frank.”

Fans were quick to agree with Weinstein’s point about using an in-house cast member for Grimes. One fan wrote: “Oh man, I think part of the reason Grimes works is that he really feels like an everyman who’s tired of Homer’s shit, and it wouldn’t have worked with a guest actor, especially someone like Nic Cage.”

Another added: “Think Azaria was the right call, having him be a regular cast member adds to his everyman quality. Having a guest as Grimey would’ve been too distracting.”

Others shared who they feel could have been perfect for the role, with Michael Douglas singled out for praise as his work on Falling Down acted as inspiration to the Grimes character.

One fan wrote: “It should have been Michael Douglas.” Another added: “Was Michael Douglas ever considered even slightly for the role? It would have been funny for him to have done it, because of the inspiration from Falling Down.”

A third shared: “Kinda crazy to think how different the episode would have been with either Macy or Cage’s cadence as Grimey.”