Nicolas Cage used to think he was an alien as a child.

The 58-year-old actor revealed that his father had described him as an "alien" during his early childhood and was left "shocked" when a visit to the doctor's office revealed that he in fact had a "normal skeleton" complete with human organs.

He said: "My father told me he felt like he had to introduce himself to me because I was such an alien.I was shocked the day I went to the doctor’s office as a child and I found out that I had normal organs and a normal skeleton because I was certain I was from another planet. "

The Oscar-winning star went on to explain that he always struggled to "connect" with others and was eventually inspired by late eccentric pop star David Bowie to take up a career in showbusiness.

He told Ramp Style magazine: "I had difficulties connecting with other people. When I saw David Bowie in 'The Man Who Fell to Earth', I realised I needed to do something. So I became an actor.'"

The 'Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent' star - who is married to fifth wife Riko Shibata and has daughter August Francesca, three months, with her but also has sons Weston, 31, and Kal-El, 17, from previous relationships - has made headlines over previous bizarre claims in the past, once alleging that he had been stalked by a mime whilst shooting 'Bringing Out the Dead' in 1999.

He said: "I guess it would fall into the stalker category more or less. I was being stalked by a mime—silent, but maybe deadly. Somehow, this mime would appear on the set of 'Bringing Out the Dead' and start doing strange things… I have no idea how it got past security.

Finally, the producers took some action, and I haven’t seen the mime since. But it was definitely unsettling."