Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE/ARTS
Thursday 15 June 2017
In ‘47 Meters Down,’ Moore and

Holt embrace uncharted waters

By JOSEPH LONGO tied and production tion, lengthy editing and
Associated Press stopped. the video release had all
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Unlike their characters, took their toll on the di-
Mandy Moore spent six Moore and Holt were rector.
weeks at the bottom of not dealing with actual “It’s a brutal job,” Rob-
a London pool trapped sharks or darkness in the erts said.
inside a steel cage, deep ocean. “How you deal with it, is
hyperventilating and However, communica- badly.”
In this June 2, 2017 photo, Mandy Moore, left, and Claire Holt screaming while filming tion was an issue for all. However things changed
pose for a portrait at the “47 Meters Down” junket at the Mon- the underwater thriller In the film, the sisters again.
tage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. “47 Meters Down .” were too deep for ra- “The Shallows” did bet-
Associated Press
It wasn’t all called for in dio frequencies, leaving ter than expected at the
the script. them unsure if help was box office, earning over
Countless “what ifs” on the way. $55 million, according to
played out in her mind: On set, Roberts directed comScore.
What if her air suddenly on dry land, only au- A new distributor, En-
cut out? What if her scu- dible to Moore and Holt tertainment Studios,
ba equipment wasn’t through underwater stepped in and set the
properly attached? speakers. film for a wide release.
“It hadn’t really been They couldn’t even “It showed there’s a mar-
done before, so no one communicate with the ket for it,” Roberts said,
really knew the ramifica- underwater crew who an admitted shark movie
tions of spending that wore special scuba div- aficionado.
much time underwater,” ing masks different than Moore and Holt said they
Moore, 33, said. their costume versions. haven’t seen “The Shal-
In total, Moore said she So Moore and Holt lows,” though Holt said
and her co-star Claire looked to one another she read the script.
Holt spent 95 percent of for guidance to both fi- She noted they’re dis-
production underwater nesse their performanc- tinct films, and “47 Me-
for “47 Meters Down,” es and remain calm. ters Down” is not just a
which arrives in theaters Holt said they didn’t shark movie, she said.
Friday more than two have to try too hard to “It’s about being
years after it was shot. act frightened — the trapped underwater,
Moore and Holt, 29, play strenuous production did running out of air with
sisters who try escaping that for them. nowhere to go.
their everyday problems “We knew our charac- You can’t go up; you’ll
by going on a Mexican ters more, what facial get the bends,” Holt said.
vacation. expressions worked and “You don’t know where
They party, they argue what didn’t,” she said. you are.
and they go shark diving Unease wasn’t just re- You don’t know if any-
in a rickety cage. served for the actresses. one is coming for you.”
The cable suddenly It became something of The film’s unconvention-
breaks loose, sending a theme for the film off- al journey to theaters has
them plummeting 154 screen as well. coincided with a career
feet to the ocean floor. Before the film’s theat- resurgence for Moore,
In reality the actresses rical release, a bigger who stars in the hit NBC
only descended 20 feet competitor emerged series “This is Us.”
down to reach the bot- in the Blake Lively shark Holt is part of “The Vam-
tom of that London pool. thriller “The Shallows.” pire Diaries” franchise on
But as Moore will tell you, “47 Meters Down” head- the CW, most recently
that’s still 20 feet under- ed for different territory, appearing in the spinoff
water. opting for a straight to “The Originals.”
“It wasn’t lost on us that video release. They’re proud of the hard
we’re breathing under- Roberts learned about work shooting “47 Meters
water and that is not nor- the changes, including a Down,” especially those
mal,” Moore said. new title, “In the Deep,” days spent underwater.
Much like their char- from a horror film web- As for the film’s distribu-
acters, Moore and Holt site. He and “47 Meters tion woes and delayed
were running out of air Down” co-writer Ernest premiere, that’s the last
the moment they dived Riera were already work- thing on their minds.
in. ing on a new script in “As actors, it’s really
Director Johannes Rob- Spain, and Roberts told important for us just to
erts said it sped up his creative partner he appreciate the expe-
shooting. They had a never wanted to speak rience,” Moore said.
fixed amount of time of the film again. “That’s the only thing
until each air tank emp- The underwater produc- we’re in control of.”q