Jason Statham Went Diving With Bull Sharks to Prepare for The Meg
Hollywood action star Jason Statham revealed that he went diving with bull sharks to prepare for his starring role in the latest summer blockbuster The Meg.
The actor plays a deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor, who is called upon to save a team of scientists and the local population from a 75-foot-long prehistoric shark called a Megalodon. Evidently, the film’s director Jon Turteltaub and his crew weren't satisfied with simply sticking Statham and the cast in front of green screens. So, in a bid to prepare for his upcoming interactions with the sea monster, Statham flew to Fiji for a diving trip alongside a group of bull sharks. The renowned tough-guy swam with "20 or 30" of the sharks which were 3 meters in length and insisted he felt quite at home under the sea alongside the predators.
“You know, it’s funny, because you get anxiety when you’re on the boat,” says Statham. “But once you get in the ocean, things take a very different turn. You get very relaxed, and when you’re in their environment, it’s quite a tranquil sort of thing, the anxiety goes away completely. It’s remarkable to experience. All of the fear - or the perceived fear - is done in your own head before you get down there with them. Once you’re swimming down there with all the other divers, it’s phenomenal. It’s one of the greatest experiences you could have, for me anyway. I’m a big SCUBA diver fanatic. Wherever I am in the world, if I get a chance to get in the ocean, I do.”
The Meg co-stars Winston Chao, Li Bingbing, Rainn Wilson, Ruby Rose, Page Kennedy, Jessica McNamee, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Robert Taylor, Cliff Curtis, Shuya Sophia Cai, and Masi Oka.
The Meg just hit the cinemas on Aug. 10, so you can judge for yourself whether Statham's experience helped him get in character. You can also check out the trailer for “The Meg” below, as well as a video on how the filmmakers shot the underwater scenes.
Image credit: Warner Bros.
