When it comes to on-screen roles, Nicolas Cage’s catalog is full of characters who wind up in a bunch of different dangerous and scary situations. The first to come to mind is Johnny Blaze jumping over a football field of helicopters on a motorcycle in Ghost Rider. Yet no role has threatened the Longlegs actor’s real life quite like the preparation for his new movie, The Surfer.
The new psychological thriller, one of the many anticipated Nic Cage projects on the 2025 movie schedule, just released in theaters. While fans can look forward to Cage’s signature hysterical madness in The Surfer, the Dream Scenario actor told EW the reason we don’t actually see him surf in his new thriller, explaining:
We had things like weather conditions and believe it or not, shark reports and things, all that s—.
In The Surfer, Cage plays a surfer intent on buying his childhood home in a beach town, only to be threatened by the locals, who slowly push him to his breaking point. So, in preparation for the role, he tried to learn how to surf.
Those who think surfing is easy should think again, and also watch one of my favorite movies about surfing, Chasing Mavericks, which tells a true story of training to surf giant swells. The water sport is one of the most dangerous activities in the world, especially in Australia, where The Surfer was filmed on site. Even with some prior experience on the waves, the Face/Off actor said he struggled to hang ten, explaining:
I have surfed, but every time I’ve attempted surfing, I’ve been pounded to smithereens. I surfed down on Sunset Beach. When I was trying to learn, my teacher gave me a shortboard. I said, ‘Look, I want a long board.’
I don’t blame Cage for asking for an easier board after being unsuccessful with the short one. The fact that the 61-year-old actor kept trying after getting wiped out by literal tons of water crashing down on him is impressive. In the end, they didn’t even get the shot they wanted, and the Moonstruck actor said it nearly cost him his life:
I just got pounded and literally got stuck in the rip tide, and they said they saw my board, they call it ‘tombstone,’ like that triangle top. I’m climbing up the leash as I’m somersaulting, and I could have died. Now I have a young kid, I don’t know if I want to do it anymore.
Well, that’s harrowing. The Croods actor even mentioned to EW the idea of retiring after having previously said he would never give up acting. Perhaps he will just be a little more picky with the roles he accepts, something he wasn’t always able to do. At this point in his career, the Renfield actor has paid his dues thricefold with both the good and the bad. These days, in the years following his young daughter’s birth, he says he wants to make more pictures she can enjoy. Having children certainly puts things into a new perspective!
Even though we don’t get to see the Leaving Las Vegas actor shred some sea foam, it’s all worth it to be able to experience his incredible talent in this new mind-twisting flick. You can catch this latest Nicolas Cage film in theaters now.