Nicolas Cage "loved" the idea of being aged up for 'The Retirement Plan'.

The 59-year-old actor portrays a retired assassin in director Tim Brown's new movie, and he was quick to get on board for the project because not only did he like the script, but he was intrigued at the thought of playing someone a decade older.

Discussing how he got the 'Pig' star on board, Tim told The Hollywood reporter: "I sent Mike [Nilon], his manager, the script, and he responded. He said that he thought it was really funny. He loved the family theme that’s running through it.

"He loved the idea of playing a grandfather and playing a bit older than his own age. So he liked the idea of being aged up, and that was pretty much it.

"We talked a lot about the material, and the comedy really drew him to it."

The filmmaker praised the 'City of Angels' actor for his "phenomenal" comic ability and the special qualities he brings to his work.

He said: "I don’t know if he ever gets enough credit for being a tremendous comic actor because he does so much drama and action, but his comic ability is phenomenal. He has an ability to improvise and add just a little twist of something that I refer to as the 'Nic Cage spice'.

"It’s hard to explain, but you love it. So he brought his Nic Cage-ism to this role in the Caymans with us, as he does in every role that he does, and I got really lucky that he liked the material.

And Tim was grateful for Nicolas' improvisation skills.

He said: "I always found that Nic is great out of the gate and he finds more improvisation and looseness in the more takes that he does."

Discussing his most memorable day of filming, he added: "I think it’d be the day that we were shooting the balcony scene, and his daughter [Ashley Greene] says, 'Are you some kind of assassin or something?' And I had written a line for that moment, but Nic turned to me and said, 'What if I didn’t say anything and just looked at her and [sheepishly laughed]?'

"It was something that only he can do, and to this day, it’s the highlight of the film for me, because it shows how great he is at doing nothing except a little expression. It just added so much to it. So that would probably be my most memorable day."