Cage's 2 Minutes of Fame

"I thought that doing both things at once might be a little bit dangerous, what do they call that - auto-erotic asphyxiation? but could have guessed that my head would burst into flames?"

Nicolas Cage held his breath for two minutes on David Letterman's chat show last night for the first time in more than 30 years. The 43-year-old actor, whose new movie "Next" opens tomorrow in America, last went without air for 120 seconds when he was 12 and decided to give it another go.

Before taking a deep breath, Cage said, "We were talking about the fact my character (in Next) can see two minutes into his own future and I said I can't do that. But I do recall when I was 12 I could hold my breath for two minutes. When I was 12. I don't know if I can do it again, but I will try." Letterman should have mentioned that brushing off an old skill like that may come in handy if "Next" stinks up the box office.

One way or the other Cage has become obsessed with reliving the magic of life when he was 12. In fact it's rumored that on Conan Cage will masturbate while thumbing through the lingerie section of the Sears and Roebuck catalog.