NICOLAS CAGE CONFRONTS FEAR OF HEIGHTS

Nicolas Cage uses stunts to get over his fear of heights.

Nicolas Cage’s clairvoyant character in Next has to maneuver through some dangerous predicaments while escaping the FBI. During one scene Nic is running down a steep slope with boulders, logs and debris tumbling down behind him at 8,500 feet above sea level.

Nic says doing those scary stunts was having to put mind over matter.

“Definitely the most nerve wracking I would say would be the avalanche sequence. I was running down these sort of cliffs and I worked it out with Eddie, my stunt man who we’ve worked together and he’s kept me safe for a long time but inevitably there comes a time where every actor has to be a stunt man and every stunt man has to be an actor. It was very important that I did all of it and he really helped me with that. He made sure that I was in positions that although they looked really scary I wasn’t able to damage myself. It was more mind over matter than anything else.”

Nic has found during the course of his career that he’s had to confront his fear of heights by doing these daredevil stunts like flying in a helicopter without a door.

“You know I seem to find myself in a lot of high places quote unquote when I work. I’m always doing height work for some reason. Even now in the movie I’m currently filming I’m way up high at Mount Rushmore. You just have to get over it, whatever little jitters you get. You have to use your mind over the matter of it all.”

That film is National Treasure: Book of Secrets where Nic reprises his role as treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates. This time he’s looking to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.