London, Aug 15 (IANS) Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage admits he always aspired to be an actor and used to spend his time imagining his life in screen shots.

The "Sorcerer's Apprentice" actor was fascinated by movies and TV from a very young age and spent a lot of time trying to work out how to get on television, but didn't find a focus for his ambition until he was a teenager.

"I would watch the TV intently and try to figure out how to get inside it from the living room carpet," contactmusic.com quoted him as saying.

"Going to elementary school, I envisaged crane shots of myself which would widen out to show me as this tiny little boy walking down the street.

"But it wasn't until I was 15 that I went to the New Beverly Cinema, a little arthouse cinema in Los Angeles, and I discovered James Dean in 'East of Eden'. The scene where he's trying to give Raymond Massey the money from the beans he sold on his father's birthday blew my mind," he added.

The 46-year-old is currently working on a movie which is based on the Disney adventure "Fantasia".