Nicolas Cage Battles Waves and Near-Death Experience While Prepping for The Surfer

May 05, 2025: Nicolas Cage faced more than just tough acting challenges while preparing for his latest psychological thriller, The Surfer—he battled the raw power of the ocean itself.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Oscar-winning actor opened up about the intense and at times dangerous surf training he endured ahead of filming in Australia. Despite having some previous experience with surfing, Cage admitted that he was no match for the ocean’s force.

“I have surfed, but every time I’ve attempted surfing, I’ve been pounded to smithereens,” Cage revealed. During training at Sunset Beach, his instructor initially gave him a shortboard, which led Cage to request a longboard instead. However, even the longboard couldn’t save him from a relentless beating by the waves.

“I just got pounded,” he said, recalling a particularly terrifying incident where he got caught in a rip tide. “They saw my board and said it looked like a ‘tombstone’—just the tip sticking up out of the water,” he explained, referencing the eerie sight when a surfboard’s nose juts straight up as its rider is submerged.

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

Despite the harrowing experience, Cage isn’t ready to give up on surfing entirely. “The goal,” he said with a laugh, “is to retire, surf, drink red wine and eat spaghetti.”

Directed by Lorcan Finnegan, The Surfer tells the story of a man who returns to the beach of his youth to surf with his son, only to face humiliation from a gang of locals. As tensions rise, he spirals into a psychological struggle that tests his sanity. The Surfer is currently showing in theaters.