Nicolas Cage feared for his safety while shooting new movie Bangkok Dangerous after the Thai military suddenly overthrew the government.

The actor, 44, was in Thailand in 2006 filming the action flick when violence erupted as the military threw out prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his government.

He recalls, "I was on the set around one in the morning, firing an automatic weapon, when the gun wrangler said, 'You've got to stop shooting. There's a military coup about to happen.'

"I didn't even know what that meant. When was the last time we had a military coup in the U.S.?

"I kept thinking my son and my wife were at the hotel. So I walked off the set, woke them up and I took them to the airport."

But the star was determined to carry on with the project - despite the threat of violence on the streets.

He adds: "I left my family at the airport, got back to Bangkok on another plane, flew back to the set - not knowing if I was going back into gunfire or tanks shooting - and finished the movie.

"There were tanks on the street. It was a terrifying experience."

- Nicolas Cage Pictures
- Bangkok Dangerous Gallery

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)