Nicolas Cage nearly died on set

Nicolas Cage claims that sharks and oil slicks thwarted the surf lessons for The Surfer. "Every time I tried to surf, I was shredded to bits," the actor stated.

Nicolas Cage has performed incredible stunts throughout his career, but learning to stand on a surfboard for his new film proved very challenging for him.

In "The Surfer", Cage plays an anonymous businessman who returns to his Australian hometown hoping to fulfil his dream of buying back the beach house he grew up in. And his character is obsessed with surfing, so he had to practice for the film.

It wasn't for lack of effort, as photos of his training taken by paparazzi attest, even though for Cage, "They didn't take the one photo of me standing on the board," he jokes.

"My surf instructor gave me a shortboard, but I said no, I wanted a longboard and I literally got caught in a breaker, went up it doing flips, and I could have died."

Not only did the actor not have much time to learn, but he was also hindered by the weather.

"We had weather conditions, and believe it or not, problems with sharks and other things like that," Cage explains.

(MH with AnVa - Source: Hollywood Reporter - Photo: © DPA NurPhoto - Luca Carlino)