BIG MOVIE
The Meg038 | W W W. S C I FI N OW.CO.U K
water, and climb various ropes and ladders in
the water. It was a great, but brutal, workout
that gave us the skills and stamina to be
comfortable in the water for the fi lming.”
Even with this training behind them, the
shoot was occasionally tough. Ruby Rose,
who plays scientist Jaxx, remembered one
particularly challenging scene fi lmed in a
giant water tank: “It was during a scene in
which I’m in the water and have to swim
back to a boat. My clothing, including a
layer of thermals to help with the cold, made
it really diffi cult to swim... everyone loved
how it looked and thought I was doing such
a great job; they didn’t realise my shoes
had fi lled up with water and were making
me sink to the bottom of the tank we were
shooting in. The next thing I know safety
divers were grabbing me. I drank a lot of
tank water, which I have a feeling is not
particularly good for you.”
Films involving water have a bit of
reputation for having ‘diffi cult’ shoots, but
most the cast seem to have enjoyed the
challenge. In fact, that’s what attracted Li
Bingbing to the role: “It challenged my mind,
my body, and my fears. I had to prove to
myself that I could do it,” she says.
But for Rainn Wilson, the novelty of
shooting on water occasionally wore off:
“When everyone begins the day, they’re
saying: ‘Woo, this is great, we’re on a boat!
“YOU CAN EXPECT
EXACTLY WHAT
YOU THINK YOU’RE
GOING TO GET”
JON TURTELTAUB
We’ve got sandwiches!’” he says. “Then,
after about four or fi ve hours of fi lming,
we’re thinking: ‘Okay, I’m ready to go in.’
Fortunately, we weren’t on the high seas
and didn’t experience big waves. We were in
harbours and bays. No one got seasick.”
Turteltaub, however, loved it: “I personally
think shooting on water is great fun. It
makes it much more enjoyable for everyone
making the movie. I think it’s silly to be
complaining about shooting on water when
someone else is paying for it and we’re all
having a great time out there and getting
paid.” Which isn’t to say that he ignored the
potential dangers: “The weather’s constantly
changing. You’re a long way from a truck
with equipment in it. The ocean weather is
very different to land weather. You can put
up an umbrella on land, there’s nowhere to
put up an umbrella when you’re out on the
ocean. And all of that takes a backseat to the
fact that it’s dangerous. If you’re not paying
attention people can get hurt.”
Not all of the fi lm was shot on open
water. Complicated stunt work was fi lmed
in two massive purpose-built water tanks in
Auckland, New Zealand, while the internal
submarine sets didn’t touch water at all.
“I don’t think they could have actually put
that submersible in water without electrical
shortage!” Masi Oka laughs. “But yeah, they
built the whole thing, we were on a gimbal,