A Hollywood actor known for his unbearable massive talent on more than 100 films over four decades, the “B-grade god” of cinema Nicolas Cage is ready to play an expat Aussie in his latest offering, The Surfer.

Set to start filming in Western Australia’s famous surfing and wine regions of Margaret River and Yallingup next month, the heavyweight actor is entering uncharted waters only he can master and command.

He’s played a vampire, the owner of a truffle-smelling pig, a convict, an Elvis crooner, a car driver, a cop and … a national treasure – mostly with his trademark Californian-New Orleans-esque drawl.

Until now.

Described as a psychological thriller, Cage’s character returns from the US after living abroad for years and is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a gang of surfers, who claim strict ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood.

The actor who can hang glide and play the mandolin and eat cockroaches will ride a surfboard for the first time, and fair dinkum slip into an Aussie twang at some point.

He can do it because everyone agrees he is “erratic, unpredictable and captivating”.

“Given that Cage’s character will have been in America for years, that might help the movie get around needing him to bust out an Aussie accent,” observes concreteplayground.

International film sales company Mossbank, which pitched the film at this year’s Cannes market, says “Nicolas Cage is the perfect actor for this iconic role and will undoubtedly deliver a tour de force performance, which is sure to be something very special”.

Calling all BMX, beer-drinking teen boys with ‘attitude’

With the film now in pre-production, a casting call was sent out in early August to WA high school students in the region to audition for roles.

What drama student doesn’t want the opportunity to act alongside Cage, especially if they’ve got attitude?

“We are looking for kids who are really confident with a bit of ‘attitude’ … we see them riding their BMXs delivering beer and generally causing trouble around town,” the call-out said, according to an ABC report.

With Cage listed on IMDb as the only person cast, The New Daily reached out to casting director Jane Norris (The Dry, The Hunter) as the agency in charge of recruitment.

Margaret River Senior High School was one recipient of the casting call.

Drama teacher Amy Johnstone said her students were thrilled by the opportunity, telling the ABC that as soon as they found out, they had a “stack of boys lining up at our office door by recess”.

“These guys are pumped to be in a movie,” she said.

“We will be holding lunchtime sessions where we can help give them some tips on audition techniques, how to present and maybe little monologues.

“Some of these boys who have put their hand up are not necessarily drama kids. It’s really awesome to see the different range of ages and kind of guys that are interested in doing it.”

Nicolas Cage at the New York premiere of Universal Pictures’ Renfield in March. Photo: WireImage

In the 1990s and 2000s, Cage was a big box-office drawcard with films like Con Air, The Rock and Ghost Rider.

Just over two years ago, he returned to the big screen in 2021 with his quirky film Pig (about a disgruntled chef whose truffle pig was stolen) after a decade’s absence.

Cage was said to have abandoned Hollywood over its structure around commercial deals, but the move to allow filmmakers to be more creative let him back into the fold.

“When I was making Jerry Bruckheimer movies back to back, that was just a high-pressure game. There were a lot of fun moments, but at the same time, there was also ‘We wrote this line. It has to be said this way’,” Cage told Variety in 2021.

“They’d put a camera on you and photograph you, and order you: ‘Now say the roller skate training wheels line’. I’d say, ‘I’ll do that but I’d also like to try it this way’.

“On independent movies, you have more freedom to experiment and be fluid. There’s less pressure and there’s more oxygen in the room.”

He went on to make a quick eight films, including vampire thriller alongside Nicholas Hoult, Renfield, The Retirement Plan, Sympathy for the Devil, The Flash, The Old Way and Butcher’s Crossing.

Everyone’s favourite, and a major awards drawcard, was the clever comedy-action-thriller, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

Cage is also no stranger to filming in Australia, putting Melbourne on the map way back in 2007 shooting films including apocalyptic alien flick, Knowing.