Actor Nicolas Cage credits singer Cher with helping him become a Hollywood star as she "fought" to land him a role alongside her in Oscar-winning movie Moonstruck.

"She really was a champion for me. At a time when people didn't see me as a romantic actor, she fought for me," the actor was quoted as saying by the Contactmusic.com.

Studio bosses were reportedly reluctant to cast the then-23-year-old Cage as Cher's love interest in the film but the singer-actress insisted and successfully landed him the part of New York baker Ronny Cammareri,

The movie won Cher a Best Actress Oscar and catapulted Cage onto the Hollywood A-list actors.