Nicolas Cage donates $5000 to Telethon while in WA filming upcoming Hollywood blockbuster The Surfer

Nicolas Cage may not have made it up from the set of WA’s own Hollywood production to our biggest fundraiser of the year, but has made his presence felt with a generous donation to Telethon.

Hosting the panel, Channel 7’s Rick Ardon told viewers just after 2pm on Sunday the Telethon NRMA Call Centre received a “very special phone call” overnight.

The star of the new thriller The Surfer, which is being filmed in Yallingup, Cage called in to make a personal donation of $5000.

“I’d love to be with you right now but I am filming down south,” Nicolas Cage said in an aired recording from the call.

“I’d like to ask you to please donate to Telethon and help some children, maybe save some children’s lives.”

Ardon said he was so desperate to get Cage to Perth for Telethon he almost drove down to pick him up himself.

But the veteran newsreader revealed Cage could not attend as the production was two and a half weeks behind on filming.

It comes after he was spotted filming on the beach on Saturday, the 59-year-old sporting a wetsuit vest showing off his heavily inked arms and shoulders.

He arrived at Perth Airport on Monday with his wife and young daughter in tow before heading down to start filming alongside local Margaret River teens who are featured as the film’s antagonists.

To donate, call 1300 737 507 or visit telethon7.com/donate.