NICOLAS CAGE almost cried when he first read the screenplay to his new movie CAPTAIN CORELLI's MANDOLIN.

The heart-throb, 36, admits that the love story between a Greek beauty and an Italian soldier was almost too much for him to take in. He explains, "When I first read the script I was very emotional. "I don't know why. I think I was moved by the story's romantic aspects.

It seemed to me to be unlike anything I'd done before. I've normally avoided period pictures. "I've felt inherently I was a contemporary person." (MB/LAT/PDD)

Source: WENN