Nicolas Cage: Movie horse wanted to kill me
Nicolas Cage has claimed a horse "wanted to kill" him.
The 57-year-old actor shared the screen with an equine named Rain Man while shooting 'Butcher's Crossing' and he has never had such a difficult experience with an animal because the creature shunned all his attempts to be "nice" and constantly tried to throw the star off his back.
He recalled: "My horse on 'Butcher’s Crossing', named Rain Man, wanted to kill me.
Fellow actor Jonathan Majors asked: "Rain Man? Where’d you shoot that?"
Nicolas continued: "Montana. I was in Blackfoot Country. Rain Man kept trying to knock me off and would try to run my head into roofs, and then I’d get off and try to be nice to him, and he would headbutt me. It was not fun.
"I’ve always had good experiences with animals. I always had great experiences with horses, but Rain Man wanted to kill me.
"I’m so glad I got through that movie alive. The director’s name was Gabe [Polsky]. The last shot, it was just like, 'Gabe, I’m not getting on a horse again.' Then one of the Native Americans said, 'Oh, Nic’s just going to get off the horse. We’ll get on …' 'OK, fine. I’ll do it.'
"So I got on the horse and literally, again, he kept trying to throw me off. I was like, 'That’s it. That was my last shot, and you had to make it almost like a stunt. You did make it a stunt. You almost killed me on my last shot in the movie.'
"As you can tell, I’ve got post-traumatic stress disorder from Rain Man. I haven’t let go of it."
The 'Con Air' star was stunned when Jonathan revealed he'd ridden the same horse and had a different experience.
Speaking during the Hollywood Reporter's actors roundtable - which also included Andrew Garfield, Peter Dinklage, and Simon Rex - the 'Harder They Fall' star said: "Rain Man is in Montana with, I think, a man named Scotty. I know Rain Man. I’ve ridden Rain Man."
Nicolas exclaimed: "You’ve ridden Rain Man? So was he nice to you? Was Rain Man nice to you?"
Trying to reassure the 'Mandy' actor, Jonathan said: "I think he may have been a little older when I got him."
But Nicolas replied: "I just wrapped three weeks ago... I’m good with animals. I mean, seriously, it was a clear decision on Rain Man’s part that he wanted to kill me. And they wouldn’t give me another horse.
"And then we were being chased by a herd of bison, and I’m on Rain Man, and I’m not sure he’s going to get me out of here. I don’t know. I’ll stop talking."
The rest of the panel laughed and Andrew begged: "Please don’t. Please keep talking about Rain Man."
