The 'Underwater' Cast Interview
‘Underwater’ cast members Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick, and Mamoudou Athie discuss the “gruesome” circumstances that came with filming the horror movie, Kristen Stewart explains why she’d never do a movie like this again, and shares the “dope” reason she shaved her head in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Jeff McCobb.
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00:00Or are you holding your breath underwater?
00:02How do you prep for that kind of thing?
00:04I'm just in the shower, just like,
00:05letting it hit me in the face.
00:06Yeah, me too.
00:07I'm serious.
00:09Listen carefully.
00:11You are now 5,000 miles from land,
00:14and you're descending seven miles
00:15to the bottom of the ocean.
00:22Film's great.
00:23I'm sick.
00:24I'm still catching my breath.
00:26It's a lot.
00:27My colleagues were drawing comparisons
00:29between Nora and Ripley from Alien.
00:32I was wondering how you feel about that,
00:34and if there's any other badasses that inspired
00:36your performance in particular.
00:38Yeah.
00:39Oh, man, it's the worst comparison,
00:41because she's, like, the best, because she is the best.
00:44I think there are certain inspirations
00:46that are pretty striking.
00:47We obviously are fans of Alien, Sigourney Weaver,
00:52even just, like, The Abyss.
00:54Like, certain sort of really claustrophobic sort
00:56of underwater movies were definitely
00:58heavily influenced in the movie.
01:01So yeah, I mean, that's rad.
01:02I think it's kind of rare to have, like, a female character
01:05be the one that, like, steps up in the end
01:06and kind of, like, shoulders the weight of whatever,
01:10the sort of, like, she's, like, whatever.
01:14She's a weird, bald-headed, strange,
01:17anti-social little, like, you know, anti-hero.
01:20So I get the comparison.
01:21But at the same time, bow down to the inspiration.
01:24You are no stranger to action in film,
01:28but this is a super unique concept.
01:30It's super action-packed.
01:31What was it about the action and physicality in this film
01:34that's different from your past experiences?
01:36See, the funny thing is, when I signed up to the film,
01:37I didn't think of it as an action film,
01:39and I didn't even contemplate the physical aspect of it.
01:42And then I was, I'm sorry, I just burped.
01:45It's okay, we all do it.
01:46Then I was blown away by how dumb I was.
01:51Why?
01:52Because, it's like Vincent said.
01:54Oh, yeah, did you read the script?
01:55Did you read the script?
01:55It says right there.
01:57It's like, yeah, go wet underwater.
01:58Yeah, that we would have to face
02:00all of these difficult aspects to the film.
02:03Yeah, Will says one day we're all moaning about the suits,
02:05and he's like, come on, come on.
02:07Did you read the script?
02:09It was cold underwater?
02:11Did you sink?
02:12It really made me laugh.
02:13I know, it was kind of embarrassing, actually.
02:15So you were caught off guard
02:16by how physically taxing it was, then?
02:18Yeah. Yeah.
02:19Yeah, because it's not like we're doing, like,
02:20it's not like we're doing chase scenes or anything.
02:22It's just that those suits were so cumbersome, and...
02:27And oddly fitting.
02:29They, don't get me, don't get this wrong.
02:31Like, the people that made them did an amazing job.
02:34They did it in, like, a blink of an eye.
02:36It looked so cool.
02:37And they looked, like, amazing, and as an anime fan,
02:39I was like, oh, I'm in a mech suit, this is awesome.
02:42But then the reality of it just, like, crushing you.
02:44It's like, oh, okay.
02:46It hurts.
02:46That's cool.
02:47Your character was an anime fan, too.
02:49That's funny.
02:51So, did the...
02:53Ha!
02:54You forgot?
02:54Did, I just watched it this morning.
02:56Were you holding your breath underwater?
02:58How do you prep for that kind of thing?
03:00I'm just in the shower,
03:01just, like, letting it hit me in the face.
03:03I wondered, I wonder, I'm serious.
03:06There was really, like, no amount of, like,
03:09water torture that I could have, like,
03:10tried to subject myself to to get ready for this.
03:14It was, like, awful.
03:17It really hurt and was, like, super claustrophobic.
03:21And, like, excruciating.
03:22And luckily, I was with a really, kind of,
03:24rad group of people doing it.
03:26But I would say, like, you talk to anyone
03:27who got through this experience, like,
03:29no one would do it again.
03:31And I think that actually says a lot about the movie.
03:33It's good.
03:34Like, for that, it is good.
03:36Like, you're usually, like, kind of encouraged
03:38to highlight the good aspects of an experience.
03:41This was gruesome.
03:43But it's a horror movie, so it works.
03:45Did your experience in this help prepare you
03:48for any big upcoming action flicks?
03:51Maybe Matrix or something like that?
03:54Did I...
03:55She doesn't know what you're talking about.
03:56Is this, did this help prepare you for any...
04:00She doesn't, she has no idea.
04:01I'm her publicity spider.
04:02Oh, is that right?
04:03Oh, yeah, I'm Moonlighter's publicity.
04:04She has no idea.
04:05I think that this film prepared me for life.
04:06Yeah, yeah.
04:07You know?
04:08Because eventually,
04:11water is gonna cover the Earth's surface.
04:13Is that right?
04:14And then I will be ready.
04:17God.
04:18Are you gonna be ready to be flying around
04:19on wires anytime soon?
04:20Or are you just dodging this?
04:23Dodging what?
04:24Don't know what you're talking about.
04:26She doesn't know.
04:27She doesn't know.
04:27God, it's painful.
04:28That's fair, I had to try.
04:30I had to try.
04:32So...
04:33I respected it.
04:33The particular look of the character,
04:37is that something that inspired your performance
04:40that helped that process?
04:42It was a nice excuse to shave my head, to be honest.
04:46Additionally,
04:47she is...
04:49She's working on an underwater oil rig
04:52as a mechanical engineer.
04:53She's not like a fussy, you know?
04:56She's a practical girl.
04:57She's fairly spartan.
04:58In the beginning of the movie,
04:59she's like putting on a suit
05:01that takes 15 minutes to get in and out of.
05:05She is a mysterious character initially.
05:08The movie starts off with a huge explosion.
05:10Like the trauma starts in the first five minutes
05:13of the movie, essentially.
05:15The whole time you're wondering about this person.
05:20I think having a shaved head
05:21and being so base in terms of how she takes care of herself
05:25and how she presents herself is like,
05:26who is this girl?
05:27What's wrong?
05:29The whole time I was reading the first 20 pages
05:31of the script,
05:32I was just going,
05:33what's wrong, Nora?
05:35There's something underlying.
05:37You know what I mean?
05:38So I think the shaved head was A,
05:40just a dope excuse to do it as a person,
05:44and then B,
05:44that it did actually really help her as a character.
05:48How important was it in this intimate environment
05:50to be working with such baller talent?
05:54That's why I wanted to do it, to be honest.
05:58Yeah.
05:58I just thought it was a cool character piece.
05:59Cool character piece,
06:00but also like, you know,
06:01the actors that we'd be working with.
06:02I was like, oh, this is like a dynamite cast.
06:05Yeah.
06:07Including you two.
06:08That's absolutely bonkers.
06:10Override it.
06:11As long as it opens, we'll be fine.
06:14Where'd he go?
06:15Guys, what's going on?
06:17Keep the door closed.
06:18Keep that door closed!