Nicholas Cage Says He Got ‘Stuck in the Rip Tide’ and ‘Could Have Died’ While Training for ‘The Surfer’: ‘I’ve Been Pounded to Smithereens’

Nicholas Cage nearly came face-to-face with a shark while training for a role in his new psychological thriller “The Surfer.” The film, now in theaters, stars Cage as a nameless businessman who attempts to buy back his childhood home in Australia, only to find the property is protected by a gang of mysterious bullies who quickly make his life a living nightmare.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about his preparations for the film, Cage said his surfing lessons ended up more dangerous than anticipated.

“We had things like weather conditions and believe it or not, shark reports and things, all that shit. I have surfed, but every time I’ve attempted surfing, I’ve been pounded to smithereens,” Cage revealed. “I surfed down on Sunset Beach. When I was trying to learn, my teacher gave me a shortboard. I said, ‘Look, I want a longboard.'”

But even with a longboard, the waves still got the best of Cage. “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,” he says, pantomiming the tip of his board sticking straight up out of the water.”

“I’m climbing up the leash as I’m somersaulting, and I could have died,” Cage added. “Now I have a young kid, I don’t know if I want to do it anymore.”

Cage’s character in “The Surfer” doesn’t fare much better: the film, directed by Lorcan Finnegan and written by Thomas Martin, sees the eponymous surfer driven to madness when bullies insist he can’t buy or surf at his childhood home. Though his Cage may not have been a natural surfer, he says he hasn’t ruled out giving it another go. “The goal is to retire, surf, drink red wine, and eat spaghetti.”