Nicolas Cage, 57, became a married man for the fifth time in Feb. 2021, tying the knot with his girlfriend of just over a year, Riko Shibata, 26. His rep tells HollywoodLife.com that “On February 16, 2021, Nicolas Cage married twenty-six year old Riko Shibata in a very small and intimate wedding at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. The date was chosen to honor the birthday of the groom’s late father.” Nic’s dad, academic, author and arts supporter August Coppola, was born on Feb. 16, 1934. He sadly passed away from a heart attack in Oct. 2009. August was the brother to famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who is Nic’s uncle.
The ceremony blended American and Japanese cultures, as the Riko hails from Kyoto Japan. “The bride wore a handmade Japanese bridal kimono from Kyoto that required three layers. She walked down the aisle to her favorite song, ‘Winter Song’ by Kiroro. The groom wore a Tom Ford tuxedo. They exchanged traditional Catholic and Shinto vows with poetry from Walt Whitman and Haiku sprinkled in,” his rep revealed to us.
In a photo from the ceremony, Riko wore her dark hair long and straight, and for makeup rocked a bright red lip and a golden eye palette. The colors matched her wedding flowers, as the bouquet was made up of red and yellow roses tied together with a bright yellow ribbon. Nic wore a matching yellow rose on his tuxedo jacket’s lapel.
The wedding reception was a modern family affair, as Nic’s former wife of 12 years Alice Kim, 35, was on hand, along with their 15-year-old son Kal-El Coppola Cage. “After the wedding, the happy couple was joined for a small celebration attended by Nicolas’ ex-wife, Alice (who he remains very good friends with) and their son Kal,” Nic’s rep noted, adding, “The couple met in Shiga, Japan over a year ago.” After the happy news was made public, the pair were spotted keeping the romance alive, taking a horse and carriage ride around Central Park.
Nic and Riko were first photographed together on dates in New York City in early March 2020. But when the COVID-19 home lockdowns went into effect later that month, she returned to Japan. The couple stayed in touch via FaceTime, and that’s how Nic proposed to Riko.
During an Aug. 24, 2020 appearance on his brother Marc “The Cope” Coppola‘s radio show, Nic revealed, “She left New York and went back to Kyoto, Japan and I went back to Nevada and uhm I haven’t seen her for six months and we’re really happy together and we’re really excited to spend that time together so I finally just said look ‘I wanna marry you’ and we got engaged on FaceTime,” the Oscar winning actor revealed.
He even presented Riko with her wedding ring in a long distance way. “I got her a black diamond engagement ring. Her favorite color is black so she wanted the black gold, and the black diamond. I customized and personalized it and I actually sent it to her Fedex,” Nic explained. Seven months later, they are now husband and wife.
