“You couldn’t make it here?” a smiling Woody Harrelson greeted me, sitting next to his Last Breath co-stars Simu Liu and Finn Cole, two movie stars in their own right.
I happened to be the first of the virtual interviews at the junket that day, and the boys were all smiles upon the start of my interview.
In Last Breath, they play a group of deep-sea divers about to embark on their latest tour. Based on a true story and documentary of the same name, the stakes are set early. The movie opens with Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) saying goodbye to his fiancée. He is paired with David Yuasa (Simu Liu) and grizzled veteran Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson) for his latest mission.
While actors’ work is (generally) not as high-stakes as deep-sea diving, acting does share some similarities. Cole explained that they share preparation and focus, and filmmaking is a team process.
“It’s such a team effort, and you’re relying so much on your teammates,” Cole explained. “You do in film and on stage — you really need your teammates. And on those ships for those divers, there’s a huge team of people working on those boats just for two guys in the water.
“Usually, checking some pipeline or cleaning something is a huge job and a little bit like the beast of a movie or TV production. It’s a ton of people working for just a couple of people on screen. So, yeah, there are similarities,” he concluded.
However, he did concede that it’s “a lot colder and wetter” 300 feet below the surface in the North Sea than it is on a “lot” of film sets.
Simu Liu’s take on Last Breath
Liu had a different perspective on the subject. He found more similarities in the “lifestyle” of acting, like having to leave home for several months to shoot a project. The deep-sea divers in Last Breath were going on a 28-day expedition; it can be even longer for actors on movie sets.
“For me, it’s about a lifestyle — it is a lot of project-based work,” he said. “And the way that our real-life characters, Dave [Yuasa], Duncan [Allcock], and Chris [Lemons], spoke about even the politics of saturation divers. It’s like, Oh, man. I just got in, and I need to strike while the iron’s hot!
“You don’t want to say no because then I’m afraid that I’ll be too replaceable and that I won’t get more jobs. This is the kind of existential stuff that all actors go through,” he elaborated.
Liu described his relationship with acting as “love-hate” since it means he has to leave home for so long. Luckily, for some actors, they get special treatment.
“If you’re lucky enough to work consistently, we’re treated very well on film sets,” Liu revealed. “And very much not in a tank in the middle of the sea.”
Still, he knows it is hard for actors’ partners. To make it work, a lot of “negotiating and compromising and sacrifice on both parts” is needed.
Last Breath will be released on February 28.
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