Cage said he wanted to pay tribute to sufferers

Cage consulted a stuntman friend with the condition before tackling the character of Roy in Matchstick Men.

"The main thing I wanted to do with Roy was not to exploit or ridicule anyone with this condition. I never wanted to make his condition funny," he said.

Cage was promoting the movie at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday.

The film is directed by Ridley Scott, and sees Cage's character struggle to raise a teenage daughter while balancing his affliction and a life of crime.

'Increasing awareness'

"I wanted to present the character with love so that anyone who would see this person, would at some point eventually get beyond the tics and see the heart of the man," Cage said.

"My hope is that after increasing some awareness of this condition you might go to a grocery store and see somebody who might be tic-ing and you wouldn't take it personally. You might understand him," he added.

Cage appeared at Venice alongside the young actress Alison Lohman, who plays his daughter in the film, as well as his co-star Sam Rockwell.

Cage won a best actor Oscar in 1996 for his role as an alcoholic film producer who goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death in Leaving Las Vegas.