Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Nicolas Cage for The Surfer.

In the movie, Cage’s unnamed character returns to his childhood beach where he’s pushed to his breaking point by a group of unfriendly locals.

In this interview, Cage discusses working opposite Julian McMahon, his favorite movie theater, why The Surfer is something new for him, and the upcoming live-action series Spider-Noir.

From director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium), The Surfer is a volatile, sun-baked psychological thriller that allows star Nicolas Cage to absolutely let loose. Not only does Cage know how to command a wide and unexpected variety of roles, but his passion for filmmaking and cinema makes his every on-screen endeavor unforgettable.
If we’ve learned anything from Cage’s recent roles — Dream Scenario, Longlegs, Pig — it’s that we love to see his unrestrained side. In The Surfer, his unnamed character finds himself caught in the undertow of a psychological spiral when he takes his son (Finn Little) to his childhood beach in hopes of catching some waves. Instead, the two are accosted by a gang of locals who will stop at nothing to torment The Surfer and scare him off the beach.
In this interview, Cage talks with Collider’s Steve Weintraub about working with co-star Julian McMahon (FBI: Most Wanted) on crafting that uncomfortable burger scene, why this script was something fresh for him, and discusses The Surfer’s journey throughout the film. He also shares what he loved about working on MGM+’s upcoming live-action series, Spider-Noir.
Nicolas Cage Shares His Favorite Movie Theater (Where He Celebrated Barbenheimer)

“It’s like a home away from home.”

Image by Annamaria Ward

COLLIDER: I’m going to start with the most important question up front. I’ve been asking this of everyone I’ve been speaking to in the last two months. Do you have a favorite movie theater, and why?
NICOLAS CAGE: There’s a place down the street. That’s one reason why I like it; it’s just a five-minute drive. It’s called Cinebarre in Las Vegas. I go there because they love movies, and they give you a nice seat. You can order whatever you want. You can get your popcorn, you can get your hot dog, and you can watch this movie that just came out, or you can get up and go to another theater and watch that movie that just came out. I did that with Barbie and with Oppenheimer, and that was a great day. I went and saw Godzilla Minus One there, and I went and saw the new Looney Tunes movie there, [The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie]. I just have a lot of fun, and I feel like it’s a home away from home.
I’m so curious what you’re like to see a movie with. When you’re watching a film, can you forget about the process, or do you sometimes see how they’re filming something and enter the actor’s brain?
CAGE: It’s impossible for me to forget about the process unless it’s something so uniquely divorced from what I do, like an animated movie, like the Looney Tunes movie, or maybe it’s a film from another country and it’s a different language. But by and large, I’m watching the action and I’m watching the cinematography, and I’m thinking about the work, which is why I generally don’t go to movies to relax.
‘The Surfer’ Is a Brand-New “Psychedelic and Surrealist” Thriller for Nicolas Cage Fans

Longlegs, Mandy, Dream Scenario — we can’t get enough unhinged, untethered Cage!

One of the things that I love about the film is the way it keeps the audience off balance. What was that like in the script? Could you get that vibe that that’s what he was going for?
CAGE: One of the reasons why I was drawn to The Surfer is because the narrative is so non-linear and enigmatic and dream logic and kind of psychedelic and surrealist. It was full of surprises for me, and I like that. I think that’s fresh in my book when you have something that is an unusual storytelling. The whole movie took place in a parking lot and on a beach. We didn’t move locations. That was it. That was interesting. That was different. That was challenging.
The character is going through such a series of degradations and humiliations that he starts the movie off one way, and he becomes somebody entirely different. I wanted it to feel both in performance and in storytelling, a bit like a wild ride, like, “Where is this going?” and have it be surprising. That’s what it felt like when we were shooting. Granted, I was working with a great group of people, the actors, like Julian [McMahon] and Nick Cassim. They’re really immersed actors, and they’re also really great people to be around, so that made it somewhat pleasurable to me. As horrific as what the character’s going through and the situations are, I enjoyed working with these people.
I spoke to Julian, and he told me his first day on set was the burger scene, and that you guys shot it multiple ways because he wasn’t really sure how it was going to play in the edit. Can you talk about filming that burger scene? It’s a great scene.
CAGE: I love that scene, and I’m glad you brought it up because it was Julian’s first day and it was a massive scene, and we were trying to find it on the set together. He was telling me what his ideas were, and I was sharing what my ideas were. It took a bit of choreography with Lorcan [Finnegan], like, “When should I get back in the car? What is he going to do with the beer?” Then the other thing that was going on was the flies. There are so many flies in that part of Australia, and they were all over my face and all over Julian’s face, and so they became part of the scene. So, we’re trying to navigate the flies and do the scene work. It’s a very unusual scene and certainly not the easiest one to begin a movie with for Julian. He starts off out of the gate with the hardest scene in the movie. But I’ve never seen a scene like that before in another movie, so I was excited to have at it, to see what we could come up with, and I was very happy with the results.

He made a decision to just turn around and pour the beer outside the side window so I could see it, and I’m trying to ignore it. It operates on a lot of levels, that scene. He’s talking about my childhood, who my father was, and I remember thinking, “Okay, this is probably the second to the lowest point for the Surfer character, but even though he’s succumbing and is submissive and falling apart, how can I make sure he doesn’t lose all of his dignity?” And I think it was just to make it clear I’m going to go down to that beach and I’m going to surf that break. No matter what, he’s not going to let go of that, and I like that about the character. I think there’s something heroic about it.
I often said to them, “Don’t explain it. Don’t explain why he needs his board back now. Don’t say it’s because his father gave it to him.” It has nothing to do with that. He just simply wants his board back, and he will stop at nothing to get his board back. Keep it enigmatic. Keep it like Rosebud, mysterious.
Sir, I completely agree.
We Tried, But We’ll Have to Wait for More ‘Spider-Noir’ Deets

Cage will reprise his Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse role as the titular hero in a live-action series for MGM+.

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

I’m just about out of time, and I have to ask you one other question. I’m incredibly excited for the Spider-Noir series. I’m not sure if you’re done filming, but can you tease people who are just like me, who are very excited to see you play this character in live-action?
CAGE: So, Steve, they’ve got a five-inch-thick cone of acrylic silence around me from the studio on that show. [Laughs] I enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed especially the actors I was working with. But they won’t let me talk about it. I can’t say one word about it. They’re keeping it very close to the vest.
The Surfer is making waves in theaters now.

The Surfer

Release Date

May 17, 2024

Runtime

99 Minutes

Director

Lorcan Finnegan

Writers

Thomas Martin

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