AceShowbiz - Nicolas Cage bonded with his wife over her pet sugar gliders.

The 57-year-old actor married Riko Shibata earlier this year (21), and has now said he first realised he had "a lot in common" with the beauty when they were discussing their shared love of animals.

Riko told Nicolas she had two pet sugar gliders - which are also known as flying squirrels - and the "Pig" star knew there would be sparks between them.

"We met in Japan and I thought she was stunning when I met her," he told Entertainment Tonight. "We had a lot in common. She likes animals, too, so I asked her, 'Do you have any pets?' And she said, 'Yes, I have flying squirrels.' She had two sugar gliders ... I thought, 'That's it. This could work out.' "

Nicolas married Riko at the Wynn Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas on 16 February (21) in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Richard E. Walter.

According to a state of Nevada marriage certificate, Riko has taken Nicolas' surname, and the document also stated the couple applied for their wedding license on 10 January - the same day as Riko's 26th birthday.

Nicolas and Riko were first spotted together in February last year (20), and the "National Treasure" star confirmed his engagement in August.

He said at the time, "She left New York and went back to Kyoto, Japan, and I went back to Nevada and I haven't seen her for six months."

"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."

"I got her a black diamond engagement ring. Her favourite colour is black, so she wanted the black gold, and the black diamond. I customised and personalised it and I actually sent it to her FedEx."

The marriage comes as the first for Riko but the fifth for Nicolas, who has previously been married to Patricia Arquette, Lisa Marie Presley, Alice Kim, and Erika Koike.