Shop owner Annie Liban had no idea actor Nicolas Cage was shooting a movie in WA until he walked through the doors of her small Asian grocery store in Busselton.

The Hollywood star is believed to be filming the movie The Surfer in the popular tourist region.

The film tells the story of his character's return to his home town and a feud with a local gang of surfers.

The rumour mill had been running wild in recent months about Cage's plans to visit the South West.

But word didn't reach Ms Liban until the actor started browsing her shop shelves at lunch time on Monday.

There were some clues

"I said, 'oh he looks like Nicolas Cage' but I was like 'what's he doing in this store'," she said. 

"Why is he getting some eggs and some kimchi? We couldn't stop staring."

She said staff barely recognised the star, but eventually worked up the courage to ask who he was.

"There were some clues … he was wearing boots in hot weather and a jacket, wearing some Prada sunglasses and the voice as well," she said.

"And then when he picked up the oranges in front of the shop we said to him 'we only accept cash' and he said 'I only have US dollars'.

The film is expected to star surfers from WA's South West and will be filmed in the famous Margaret River and Yallingup regions.

A call-out went to high school students in August, asking for confident kids with a bit of "attitude" to be in the film.

Ms Liban said she was one of Cage's fans. 

"Growing up in the Philippines, we love Nicolas Cage so I am so looking forward to seeing that movie he's doing here in Australia," she said.

Attention on the region

City of Busselton Mayor Grant Henley said it was a win for the region to have Cage — and the film's cast and crew — in town.

"[These things] have a huge economic spin-off to the region … accommodation and costs with a crew of that magnitude, you have 100 people here for a month, which is a massive injection of cash in the local economy," Mr Henley said.

Australian movies such as Drift with Sam Worthington and the karting movie Go! have been set in the region before.

However, Mr Henley said it was exciting to see Hollywood come to the region — and help boost the city's exposure.

"I think this movie obviously packs some star-pulling power to get someone like Nicolas Cage involved in filming," he said.

"So that will be a larger magnitude than perhaps some of those Australian-made films with a lot smaller budgets and perhaps distributions.