Nicolas Cage sparks meme meltdown after donning traditional Kazakh dress

Hollywood’s most memetastic movie star, Nicolas Cage, produced another lode of internet gold when he donned traditional Kazakh attire while attending a film festival in Kazakhstan.

Cage was snapped wearing a traditional hat and coat in a photo with famous Kazakh violinist Ayman Musahodzhayeva on Saturday.

As strange as this may seem, it was actually the look on the 53-year-old’s face that caught the imagination of the internet as people tried to decipher what was going through the actor’s mind.

Some suggested that Cage was going through an existential crisis while another joked that he was about to be implicated in the ongoing Russia scandal which is embroiling the White House.

The most popular tweet of the picture was sent out by Twitter user Fabrice Deprez‏ (@fabrice_deprez). Deprez’s photo has been retweeted more than 17,000 times and has picked up over 40,000 likes.

Things became really weird when people started photoshopping Cage into scenes involving world leaders and politicians.

Cage was in Astana for the Eurasian International Film Festival. The ‘National Treasure’ star attended the opening ceremony of the festival at Kazakhstan Central Concert Hall on Saturday.

Cage's fellow Hollywood star Adrien Brody was also at the event, along with “a myriad of Kazakhstani, Indian, Chinese, European and Russian actors, directors and producers,”KazInform report.

Cage seemed to enjoy his time in Kazakhstan, saying that “everybody was so hospitable, so friendly. I have never felt such a warm welcome.”

Numerous news reports erroneously said the woman in the photo is Kazakh First Lady Sara Nazarbayeva. This false piece of information seemed to originate in a tweet from writer Yashar Ali.

Cage isn't the first well known person to take over the internet on the back of a visit to Kazakhstan. Then-French President Francois Hollande inspired a similar outpouring of mirth when he donned the traditional garb on an official visit to Astana in 2014.

READ MORE: #СhapkaGate: Twitter in giggles over Hollande wearing Kazakh national costume

Among other things Hollande was compared to Santa Claus, Genghis Kahn and a mushroom.