Shop owner told man 'you look like Nicolas Cage' without realizing it was actually the actor himself

A shopkeeper got the shock of her life after telling a customer he looked like Nicolas Cage when he in fact was Nicolas Cage.

Annie Liban had been on a normal shift at her store in Busselton in Western Australia completely unaware that a Hollywood movie was being shot in town.

It wasn't until someone walked into the Asian grocery store and started browsing for eggs and kimchi on Monday (October 16) that she thought there was something oddly familiar about this particular customer.

Eventually, the customer came up to pay at the register, leaving her wondering if he was who she thought he was.

Annie said: "There were some clues … he was wearing boots in hot weather and a jacket, wearing some Prada sunglasses and the voice as well.

"And then when he picked up the oranges in front of the shop we said to him 'we only accept cash' and he said 'I only have US dollars'."

Finally, Annie plucked up the courage and told the customer that he looked just like the star of Con Air and Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Nicolas Cage.

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Annie said: "We said, 'Oh you do look like Nicolas Cage' and he said, 'I am'."

In fairness, Nicolas Cage probably does look quite a bit like Nicolas Cage. I'd go so far as to say the resemblance is uncanny.

The Hollywood A-lister is believed to have been in town to shoot The Surfer in the popular tourist region.

City of Busselton Mayor Grant Henley told how it was a big boon to the city to have both Cage and the film's crew in town.

He said: "[These things] have a huge economic spin-off to the region … accommodation and costs with a crew of that magnitude, you have 100 people here for a month, which is a massive injection of cash in the local economy."

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He added: "I think this movie obviously packs some star-pulling power to get someone like Nicolas Cage involved in filming.

"So that will be a larger magnitude than perhaps some of those Australian-made films with a lot smaller budgets and perhaps distributions.

"I hopefully might bump into him around the area, if he's out exploring the region having a bit of fun."

Cage was in the area filming upcoming thriller The Surfer.

It will see Cage playing a man who is returning to his childhood home in Australia, to find that the beach from his childhood is occupied by a local gang of surfers.

Of course, things escalate to whole new levels. It sounds like a combination of Bay Watch and Death Wish 3.

A release date for the movie is not yet forthcoming, but filming is now underway.