Nicolas Cage has fought off treasure hunters, ghosts, and even killer animatronics—but nothing has knocked him down quite like surfing. In his new psychological thriller The Surfer, now in theaters, Cage plays a man haunted not just by bullies at the beach, but by his own elusive surfing ambitions.
Despite the film’s title and its sun-soaked Australian setting, The Surfer spends more time in Cage’s unraveling psyche than on the water. That wasn’t the actor’s original hope. Cage says he dreamed of recreating the cinematic majesty of Big Wednesday, but time, weather, and even sharks conspired against him.
“I tried. I really tried,” Cage told Entertainment Weekly, recalling the wipeouts and riptides that plagued his surf lessons. “They didn’t get the one shot of me standing on the board,” he joked.
Still, Cage isn’t giving up on that dream wave. While The Surfer keeps his character out of the lineup, Cage sees his real-life surf journey as unfinished. “The goal,” he says, “is to retire, surf, drink red wine, and eat spaghetti.”
Turns out, the wildest Cage role might just be one that mirrors his own unfulfilled dreams.
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