Nicolas Cage’s epic beard in first image for Joe

Nicolas Cage is a man renowned for glorious (though often fake) hair. But usually it’s perched slightly uncomfortably on top of his head, rather than around his face.

His epic new beard though, grown (?) for David Gordon Green’s upcoming Texan drama ‘Joe’, impressively bucks this trend.

[Related story: New pics emerge of Nicolas Cage as Superman]

Cage will play a grizzly ex-con attempting to go straight in the rough ‘n’ ready Texan backwoods – mainly by working in a lumber-yard and getting hammered in the evening (no one plays a drunk like Cage).

However he’s given a shot at redemption with the arrival of a 15 year-old boy in desperate need of a father figure after his family is made homeless.

Adapted from a Larry Brown novel, this is ‘Pineapple Express’ and ‘Your Highness’ director Green making a break for more dramatic ground.

Back to the beard though and the question is: real or fake?