Jon Voight talks Ghost Rider and National Treasure

Jon Voight won’t have to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to connect to Nicolas Cage anymore, as he’s completed one project with him and has another in the works. National Treasure opens this November, and Voight is also attached to play a villain in the Ghost Rider movie, which will star Cage.

“I haven’t seen the final script yet, but if I can find a way into it I will be delighted to do that,” Voight said. “We just have to see how the script turns out. Nic Cage is set.”

Voight said that rewrites may make the character he’s up for too young for him, but nothing is certain yet. Voight could only say that his would be a devil-like character, but would not name names. “It’s a very mysterious substance, that piece. It’s a devil force that has enlisted this young man in his despair over losing his loved one. Then he finds that he’s trapped in this aspect and then fights it. It’s a very beautiful story really, beautiful love story as well.”

Yet, in the months since Mark Steven Johnson was confirmed as director, Voight has not met with him. “I’ve talked to Mark Steven Johnson but I haven’t met with him about it yet. He and Nic have had many discussions.”

Voight is not surprised that so much is still up in the air, as is the nature with such properties. “In these projects, the search for the proper charisma in a piece is quite an interesting search. I’m rooting for the piece entire and I’m putting it in the hands of Mark and Nic too. I’m kind of leaving it to them mostly. We’ll just see how it comes out. I’m not the major ingredient, the major factor at the moment, and I have other things to do as well. We’ll just see how it works out. If it turns my way, it’ll be fun. Then I’ll be prepared. I’ll come into it as I do with full steam and lots of ideas.”

It was actually while shooting National Treasure that Voight saw the Ghost Rider script develop. “We had talked about Ghost Rider. I talked to Nic about Ghost Rider. We were building it around Nic and during the time of National Treasure, the script came out that he accepted.”

Voight’s role in Treasure sounds a lot like his character from the original Tomb Raider. “I play Nic’s dad. I play a dad who initially, when he was a young boy, didn’t want him to pursue this legacy of our family which was in search of this treasure that supposedly was buried many, many years ago and in the hands of the founding fathers. And I initially don’t want him to be part of it and I want to break from the family tradition. And he enlists me back into it actually, so in the end I come forth.”

You will see Voight in action in the film, though the main action hero is Nic Cage as the fortune hunter. “It’s a very interesting adventure story. It has a little bit of Raiders of the Lost Ark in it. It’s full of fun, wit and real adventure. It’s also quite intelligent, really fun mind twisters, puzzles and stuff. So I think it’s going to be an audience pleaser.”

Comparison to The Da Vinci Code may be appropriate as well. “It does have a little of that because it’s continuous puzzles. It’s almost like you’re drawn into it to see if you can solve it, and you solve it with Nic and the team. It is, it’s interesting. It’s quite an interesting piece.”

National Treasure opens November 19. Ghost Rider is still in development.