Shooting “Underwater” was indeed a demanding experience for Kristen Stewart and her co-stars.
The film required them to wear heavy 100 lb. scuba suits for most of the time, which added significant physical challenges to the production.
The extended time spent in water and the cumbersome suits made the filming process quite grueling.
“It was so scary and so horrific. It wasn’t fun scary. It was f–ed up scary,” Stewart said with a laugh during a Q&A moderated by “It” director Andrés Muschietti.
The cast gathered for the panel Tuesday after a special fan screening at Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Los Angeles.
Kristen Stewart, who is known to have a fear of swimming, found the experience particularly terrifying and chose to skip preparation for the role.
In contrast, her co-stars Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr. took scuba diving lessons upon arriving in New Orleans to better handle the demands of filming underwater scenes.
“Kristen was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to learn how to do this. Just put me in [the suit] on the day. I don’t care. It’s going to be so awful,’” director William Eubank recalled.
In “Underwater,” the crew of researchers, played by Kristen Stewart, Mamoudou Athie, T.J. Miller, and Vincent Cassel, must detail a flooded underwater research facility after an earthquake.
Their only chance of survival is to walk across the ocean floor to a distant rig, all while being pursued by monstrous sea predators.
Kristen Stewart expressed her fears about filming in such challenging subterranean environments, worried about the potential for faulty suits or malfunctioning submarines.
“I was just scared,” she said. “I was claustrophobic and I couldn’t deal with that. But this was a f—ing hell hole for a million other reasons.”
Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr. shared Kristen Stewart’s concerns, noting that none of the cast anticipated how difficult filming “Underwater” would be.
The challenges of working in the heavy scuba suits and the demanding underwater environment came as a surprise to all involved.
“When I signed read this, I didn’t think it was going to be a physically demanding,” Henwick said. “I thought, ‘This’ll be easy. Just put me in a suit. We’ll be walking around pretending to be under water.’ No. It was the hardest film I’ve done by far.”
Gallagher Jr. said he was equally clueless until he touched down in New Orleans.
“The suits were so hard to move around in that like I don’t remember any acting choice,” Gallagher Jr. chimed in.
“And I remember honestly being like, ‘Okay, if Kristen’s scared, then I can be scared too.’ Then we can just kind of go through this.”
But Stewart said ultimately those obstacles, however terrifying, drew her to the film.
“We’re joking about how hard it was to make the movie, but I am attracted to things that are difficult. The only reason to do something is because it scares you.”
