The actor tells EW about the “stupid location scouting” for his new movie “The Carpenter’s Son” — and yes, he knows you’re thinking about that “Wicker Man” scene.

Nicolas Cage was swarmed by bees on set of Jesus horror movie, swears it wasn’t divine intervention (exclusive)

The actor tells EW about the "stupid location scouting" for his new movie "The Carpenter's Son" — and yes, he knows you're thinking about that "Wicker Man" scene.

By Mike Miller

Mike Miller

Mike Miller is the executive editor on the movies team at . He previously worked as a writer-reporter for PEOPLE and TMZ.

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November 7, 2025 3:56 p.m. ET

Nicholas Cage in 'The Carpenter's Son'. Credit:

Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Not the bees again!

In a bizarre case of life imitating art, Nicolas Cage was swarmed by bees while filming his latest movie, *The Carpenter's Son*, in which he stars as Joseph — as in the father of Jesus (played by Noah Jupe) and husband of Mary (FKA twigs) — in a dark take on Christ's teenage years based on the *Infancy Gospel of Thomas*.

"Isn't that funny? That 'not the bees' stuff," he says with a laugh, referencing his much-memed line from the unrated version of* The Wicker Man *(2006), which includes an unforgettable scene where his character is tortured with the insects.

While Cage says he doesn't see *The Carpenter's Son *as a horror film, its director, Lotfy Nathan, has acknowledged that some might categorize it as such, though he insists that label is not meant to be a provocation. Still, some commenters, almost all of whom likely have not actually seen the film (in theaters Nov. 14), are preemptively calling blasphemy.

Nicolas Cage getting tortured by bees in 'The Wicker Man'.

So, before anyone suggests these bees were sent to disrupt production as an act of divine retribution, Cage is clearing the air, placing the blame where it usually lies in such situations: simple human error.

"Well, what I would say about that, rather than some sort of mystical intervention, is that it was just stupid location scouting, and someone didn't do their research," he says, laughing as he recounts the story.

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"The bees there, by the way, are protected. I would be pissed off too, if I was a bee and there was a film crew going into my hive and shining lights on everything," he jokes. "It was ridiculous. I don't know whose idea it was. And then they kept saying, 'Go back and shoot there with all the bees*,'* and people were getting stung and getting sick. I mean, it was really not smart.

Cage emphasizes again that "it wasn't any kind of divine mystical intervention. It was just stupidity. There was no regard for nature and our brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom."

In a statement to EW about the incident, Cage's director adds, "Around the middle of production, we showed up for our first day at a new location, a remote mountain top where a set for a leper colony was constructed. Apparently, some chemical the art department used for finishing touches on the set ended up attracting a swarm of wasps overnight, which no one noticed until the morning we were set to shoot there."

He adds, "We had to shut it down that day, which was a real mess. There was a lot of gossip about it being ‘divine intervention’, but most likely just a bunch of angry wasps."

Still, if ever there was an actor who'd be open to experiencing the supernatural, it's Cage. Sadly, the actor, who famously once owned New Orleans' most haunted house, says he has no tales of cursed film sets.

Nicholas Cage in 'The Carpenter's Son'.

Magnolia Pictures

"No, nothing spooky has happened on a film set," he says after pausing to think about it. "I wish something spooky would. Then maybe that would help me in my faith. But no, nothing."

As for what he'd say to prospective audiences concerned about the film's tone, given its subject matter, Cage says, "Well, what I will say is it's intense. It is intense in that it is an existential crisis. And there are dark forces at work that are trying to derail Joseph and the Christos."

But, he adds, "I can tell you that everybody approached this movie as though the material was something sacred, and they were very careful with it. There was no wink, there was no smirk. It was emotionally raw; it was vulnerable. It was naked, in terms of vulnerability and emotion. That could be a risk in itself. People may be uncomfortable with that, but I think that if you go to the movie, you will see that it was sincere storytelling."**

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Movies”