Actor reveals bizarre fear resurfaced during filming in WA
Star of new psychological thriller The Surfer Nicolas Cage admits he feared surfers during his younger years.
The 61-year-old actor explained how the movie, an Australian-Irish co-production filmed in Western Australia, relates to his own childhood in California.
Recalling spending weekends at Santa Monica Pier, Cage told Extra he admired boardriders but was also scared of them.
'I was quite young, but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get past the group that was surfing, or, you know, the line, if you will. It was quite intimidating,' he said.
'I had a lot of admiration for surfers and for what they do, but I also feared them as a young man because they were pretty jacked up, both mentally and physically.'
In the new movie, Cage plays a man who revisits his childhood beach to surf with his son. The actor's character is pushed to his limits amid an escalating conflict.
'It's a human condition, it's a human story to think that you can repair things if you just work hard enough and buy back that house or it'll fix my marriage or it'll repair my relationship with my son ... and that desire to belong, to belong to something, to belong to anything,' the actor said.
Cage has previously described having a student-like approach to acting.
The star has achieved huge success in the film business but acknowledges he's still developing his skills.
'I certainly can't think in those terms like I've done it all,' Cage told Entertainment Tonight in 2023, despite having previously won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, among other accolades.
'I've always had the mantra that I'm a student. I've viewed my path and film-making as a student. I would never call myself a master.'
The veteran star also revealed he's always had an inquisitive mind.
'I always have something to learn, always want to learn. So, 60 is coming up for sure, so my goal is to read more. I've been lagging in that department. I'd like to read a book a week.'
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Whiteley shares much of her screen time with Margot, Emily, Connor and their on-set stand-in and snugglemate Biscuit - all real orphaned joeys in the care of the Kangaroo Sanctuary who had their own trailer on the set of the movie in Alice Springs, where Barns and his wife Tahnee would give them their bottle every three hours. By the time movie-goers see them bouncing across cinema screens in September, the cute quartet will be all grown up and already released back into the wild. Director Kate Woods, of Looking for Alibrandi acclaim, said there was "no CGI or digital trickery with the joeys". "What you see is exactly how they behave," she said. "I think most of the world associates Australia with kangaroos, but not many films have shown kangaroos in a realistic and natural way, so I hope audiences learn something about the country and see it in a slightly different way." The Kangaroo Dundee series was seen in more than 90 countries, giving StudioCanal a ready worldwide audience for Kangaroo. The French screen giant turned quaint British children's book character Paddington Bear into an $800 million box office heavyweight with three hit movies since 2014. StudioCanal Australia and New Zealand CEO Elizabeth Trotman said the first feature film from the company's Australian production arm, Cultivator Films Australia, was "sure to leave an indelible mark on the cinematic landscape". Australian film companies Brindle Films and Bunya Productions were key collaborators during filming, lending their experience and expertise in bringing First Nations stories and Red Centre vistas to the screen. Producer David Jowsey, whose credits for Bunya Productions include Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country and Iven Sen's outback crime thriller Mystery Road, expects Aussie movie-goers to feel proud when they see Kangaroo's depiction of "the deep red beauty of our vast outback". "Kangaroo embraces the best of Australia, our community, our land, our spirit and our baby roos," he said. Older generations who grew up with Skippy The Bush Kangaroo would find it fun, "full of heart and belonging, reminding us of a simpler Australia". Meet joeys Margot, Emily, Connor and Biscuit, the cuddlesome stars of Kangaroo, the first Australian movie from the studio behind the blockbuster Paddington franchise. StudioCanal has given the ACM network, publisher of this masthead, an exclusive first look at images from its upcoming family comedy as it releases a heartwarming new trailer and the film's new poster. Opening in cinemas on September 18, Kangaroo is loosely based on the life of Chris "Brolga" Barns, founder of the Alice Springs Kangaroo Sanctuary, whose escapades raising orphaned joeys were featured in the 2013 BBC-National Geographic documentary series Kangaroo Dundee. The film stars Ryan Corr as a TV weather presenter stranded in a tiny Northern Territory town who teams up with a 12-year-old Indigenous girl to rescue an orphan joey. Newcomer Lily Whiteley, chosen from more than 300 hopefuls, makes her acting debut alongside Corr and co-stars Deborah Mailman, Ernie Dingo and Brooke Satchwell. Whiteley shares much of her screen time with Margot, Emily, Connor and their on-set stand-in and snugglemate Biscuit - all real orphaned joeys in the care of the Kangaroo Sanctuary who had their own trailer on the set of the movie in Alice Springs, where Barns and his wife Tahnee would give them their bottle every three hours. By the time movie-goers see them bouncing across cinema screens in September, the cute quartet will be all grown up and already released back into the wild. Director Kate Woods, of Looking for Alibrandi acclaim, said there was "no CGI or digital trickery with the joeys". "What you see is exactly how they behave," she said. "I think most of the world associates Australia with kangaroos, but not many films have shown kangaroos in a realistic and natural way, so I hope audiences learn something about the country and see it in a slightly different way." The Kangaroo Dundee series was seen in more than 90 countries, giving StudioCanal a ready worldwide audience for Kangaroo. The French screen giant turned quaint British children's book character Paddington Bear into an $800 million box office heavyweight with three hit movies since 2014. StudioCanal Australia and New Zealand CEO Elizabeth Trotman said the first feature film from the company's Australian production arm, Cultivator Films Australia, was "sure to leave an indelible mark on the cinematic landscape". Australian film companies Brindle Films and Bunya Productions were key collaborators during filming, lending their experience and expertise in bringing First Nations stories and Red Centre vistas to the screen. Producer David Jowsey, whose credits for Bunya Productions include Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country and Iven Sen's outback crime thriller Mystery Road, expects Aussie movie-goers to feel proud when they see Kangaroo's depiction of "the deep red beauty of our vast outback". "Kangaroo embraces the best of Australia, our community, our land, our spirit and our baby roos," he said. Older generations who grew up with Skippy The Bush Kangaroo would find it fun, "full of heart and belonging, reminding us of a simpler Australia".
