Nicolas Cage Reveals Near-Death Experience While Prepping for His New Movie

Nicolas Cage found himself facing his own mortality while learning to surf in preparation for his latest film.

Cage, 61, had to take surfing lessons for The Surfer, which hit theaters on Friday, May 2. In the movie, Cage stars as an anonymous businessman who moves back to his native Australia to buy the beach house of his childhood.

Despite that premise, Cage’s character doesn’t actually spend that much time in the waves. Still, a key scene toward the film’s end reportedly shows the actor actually in the water showing off his new, death-tempting skills — skills he admits were difficult for him to obtain.

“We had weather conditions and believe it or not, shark reports and things, all that s***,” he told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Saturday, May 3. “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 longboard.”

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The actor admitted that he has a fantasy of recreating a surf scene from the 1979 movie Big Wednesday, despite how out-of-reach that scenario seems to be.

“I seem to remember in my mind’s eye, Jan-Michael Vincent on the board and then the board wiping across the frame…. It was so beautiful in the water with the wiping of the board and then landing on its face in slow motion,” he told the outlet. “I thought, gee, I really want to get that shot, but I didn’t have the time to get my skills to the point where we could do it.”

Unfortunately, the outlet also reported, photos captured from filming mostly only show Cage missing the mark — over and over again.

In happier news, the actor had the opportunity to attend the fourth wedding of his son Weston Cage Coppola, who married Jenifer Canter Friday, May 2.

“I am ineffably honored to announce that I am married to my twin flame, just as the creator intended all along. I love you @_babyjen_ more than any man has ever loved,” Weston wrote via Instagram on Friday, May 2, sharing a handful of wedding photos. “What was meant to be shall forever be and I will always protect you and our incontrovertibly God-given marriage by any means necessary.”

She added, “This is the greatest miracle of my existence as I see the reason I was born and divinity itself every time I look into your astronomically beautiful eyes. Our dreams are God’s dreams for the world. Your holy soul and being is the dynamic key in every nuance and detail that unlocked my heart for it was always yours. Reunited and divinely provided. We are free and now we can free the world together.”

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Weston, Cage’s son with ex Christina Fulton, confirmed in March that he proposed.

“She is the love of my life and I am committed to her forever,” he told People. “What I have with Jenifer is a God-given divine phenomenon, and therefore it is incomparable. She is the love of my life and our special love is uncanny. I am honored to be with the absolute love of my life. We look forward to changing the world and making our legacy.”