'47 Meters Down: Uncaged' stars Sistine Rose Stallone and Corrine Foxx say shark movie was far too real for comfort
After the extremely great success of ‘47 Meters Down’, the shark-infested survival horror movie, a new sequel is swimming to theaters. ‘47 Meters Down: Uncaged’ will see Sylvester Stallone’s daughter Sistine Rose Stallone and Jamie Foxx’s daughter Corrine Foxx make their film debuts alongside Sophie Nélisse (‘The Book Thief’), Brianne Tju (‘Light as a Feather’), Davi Santos (‘The Cure’), Khylin Rhambo (‘The First Family’), Brec Bassinger (‘Bella and the Bulldogs’) and John Corbett (‘Sex and the City’).
While most movies these days use motion capture and CGI to create dangerous environments, the actors on ‘47 Meters Down: Uncaged’ were exposed to a truly immersive experience with hyper-realistic underwater sets and minimal visual effects. Speaking to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) in exclusive interviews, Stallone, Foxx, Nélisse and Tju shared some of their experiences working on the stunning sets of the movie.
“They made very life-like, intricate, large sets for us under there,” said Brianne Tju. “And so when we went under it was like -- if it was green screen you would have to create this world but they created a lot of it for us and then we kind of just had to fill in the blanks. And being underwater, under those circumstances, sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re acting, it kind of feels like you’re just doing what your character is doing.”
“They built these tunnels and caves underwater and these big tanks in London and so we were really exploring these Mayan sculptures and all in real-time,” Corinne Foxx explained. “So a lot of the reactions you see are really us.”
At one point during the film’s production, things got really scary for the actors, especially Sophie Nélisse, whose oxygen tank actually bursted during filming. “The rim popped off and all the gas started leaving my tank and I just had to bolt to the surface,” Nélisse said. “And two seconds after they just put on a new tank and said ‘Go back down’ and I’m like ‘What?’ So, it was really scary.”
“But you were so calm!” Stallone remarked appreciatively. “Such a high-pressure situation and it was the calmest I’ve ever seen you.” Despite how scary things got though, there were more than a few pranks on set that lightened up the mood.
“After a while, when you’re underwater for so long you’ve got to make it fun,” Tju laughed. “So on the masks, there’s the regulator button and it flushes the person’s mask and I would kind of go up to everyone and just like (mimics pressing the button). But they pranked me on my second day of shooting. There was a tunnel that they had built behind me and they said ‘This is just a rehearsal. Look into the tunnel and then look out so the camera can see you,’ and I said okay and I do it and no one told me that they had the shark head right there and that’s how it would feel if I was in the ocean and -- it was numbing.”
According to Stallone, Foxx and Nélisse, Corbett was responsible for a lot of the pranks on set. “John would leave the fake plastic shark in random places in the tank,” Nélisse explained. “So we go into this tunnel, which was a new tunnel for us, and there’d be this massive shark head and we’d always jump.”
“And John would just say things in hair and makeup,” Foxx added. “He’d be like ‘Girls, you know you could die down there,’ and we’d be like ‘John, why would you say that?!’ and he’d be like ‘Just so you know,’ and just leave.”
Both Stallone and Foxx said their fathers, being veteran actors, may have underestimated what their daughters were putting themselves through. “I don’t think they really knew what we were getting ourselves into either,” Foxx explained. “At least my dad, I don’t think he knew what I was doing and he just saw the trailer and was like ‘Oh my god you did all that?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah Dad!’”
“I think they thought we were just complaining,” Stallone laughed. “They were like ‘We do this all the time,’ and we’re like ‘No, you really don’t understand.’”
‘47 Meters Down: Uncaged’ was directed by Johannes Roberts and written by Ernest Riera. The movie, which is being released by Entertainment Studios, is set to premiere August 16.