'Deep Water' Exclusive Interview: Aaron Eckhart

Moviefone speaks with Aaron Eckhart about 'Deep Water' and working with Sir Ben Kingsley. "I have the utmost respect for him. He's one of the greats."

(L to R) Molly Belle Wright and Aaron Eckhart in 'Deep Water'. Photo: Jen Raoult.

Opening in theaters on May 1st is the new survival film ‘Deep Water’, which was directed by Renny Harlin (‘Deep Blue Sea’) and produced by Gene Simmons of the band KISS.

The film stars Aaron Eckhart (‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Sully’), Angus Sampson (‘Mad Max: Fury Road’), Kelly Gale (‘Plane’), and Oscar winner Sir Ben Kingsley (‘Gandhi’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Aaron Eckhart about his work on ‘Deep Water’, similarities to ‘Sully’, how his research for Clint Eastwood’s movie prepared him to play a pilot in this film, what he learned from working with Sir Ben Kingsley, acting in water, how they shot the shark sequences, why Renny Harlin was uniquely qualified to direct this movie, and if he got a chance to meet producer and KISS bassist Gene Simmons.

Aaron Eckhart in 'Deep Water'. Photo: Jen Raoult.

Moviefone: To begin with, after ‘Sully’, ‘Deep Water’ marks the second time that you have successfully landed a plane full of passengers on water in a movie. Did you feel any déjà vu while you were shooting this film?

Aaron Eckhart: There you go. I'm ready for the big time. Obviously, it was getting back in the cockpit, putting the hat on, getting in the chair, adjusting the chair, and pushing the buttons. I took pilot training myself in real life, and then on YouTube, people are filming themselves in cockpits all over the world. So, it's a combination of all that. Then really, the script, and we have a guy on set that's telling us what to do, “Don't push that, do this, do that." Then it comes down to just Sir Ben and me in the cockpit playing off each other. That's really the most exciting part, or if it were Tom (Hanks) or whoever. It just comes down to working with great actors.

MF: When you research a subject to play a character with a particular occupation like a pilot, a cop, or a doctor, does that training stay with you if you ever play a character with that occupation again, or do you have to relearn those skills film to film?

AE: Oh, yeah. Not only that, but in my daily life, it stays with me daily. If I play a cop and I learn something about situational awareness or defense, I practice it every day. For example, I learned to chop when I did a cooking movie (‘No Reservations’). I learned how to make sauces. I learned how to flip stuff in a pan. That stays with me today. I do that. I use that every day. A great thing, selfishly, about making movies is that you get to work with the best people in the world and they'll do it with a smile on their face, whether it's a doctor, pilot, gunfighter, cowboy, or whoever it is. That stuff stays with you your whole life. As long as it's a good guy, when it's a bad guy, I try to get rid of it. In fact, people say, "Well, why are you doing all these action movies?" It's because I want to play good guys. I don't want to go down into the dark abyss of things that are going to interrupt my sleep at night. I don't want to do that anymore. This movie is a perfect example of that, of being a leader, of having to step up, having to deal with people, being humbled, loving my family, loving others, and doing the right thing. That's the sort of thing I prefer to do now.

Ben Kingsley in 'Deep Water'. Photo: Jen Raoult.

MF: Can you talk about acting opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, and what did you learn from watching the way he works and carries himself on set?

AE: Well, that's a very good question. I have the utmost respect for him. He's one of the greats. He's done fantastic work. Now, as an actor, when he walks onto the set, when he walks into wardrobe, how's he doing? How does he greet people? Does he have a smile on his face? Does he take time with people? These are all things that I'm watching. I'm soaking up everything, not just the acting. How does he go onto set? What does he do when he gets onto set? How does he prepare himself? How does he talk to the director? All these things, I am soaking up all the time. For Sir Ben, or if its Nicole Kidman ('Rabbit Hole'), or whoever it is, you're with the best. They're sitting with you and they're working with you, so you must take advantage of them. Any question that I ask is like, "Sir Ben, what was it like doing ‘Hamlet’? What was it like doing this? What were you thinking about?" I did that with Clint Eastwood ('Sully'). I did it with Jack Nicholson ('The Pledge'). I did it with all of them. I've learned things from them that I put into my repertoire. Things that Tom Hanks said to me. He might not even know that he said it to me, or it wasn't even said. I just go, "Okay, that's the way to do it.” Gary Oldman, I learned a lot from on ‘The Dark Knight’. How do these guys deal with others? How do they deal with crisis on the set? How do they deal with times when they're not happy? Just all that stuff. I have so many experiences of that, but it never goes to waste. I'm always looking at them. Let's say that an actor of Sir Ben's quality and qualifications is not happy with something. How does he deal with that? How do I deal with him? How do I ask questions when he's concentrating? It's a little dance. Then I look at others and go, "Well, how are they responding to me? What sort of energy am I putting out?" Over the years it's changed. I have to say earlier on in my career, I wasn't good at it. I misinterpreted a lot of signals, and I wasn't as professional as I thought I could be. So, I've learned, and I've mutated over the years to try to be the professional Sir Ben is.

MF: What are the challenges of acting and performing in water?

AE: Well, I'll tell you what, let's just think about it. If you and I were acting together and I said, "Okay, this is what happened. We just fell 30,000 feet out of the air. We've just seen people getting dragged out of a plane. We're in the middle of the ocean. The water's freezing. We're not prepared. You're freaked out. Action!” It's impossible. Now, you're in water and you must use the fourth wall as an actor and there's sharks out there. You can't see through the water, it's a nighttime. People are yelling and screaming and now you must deal with every single fear at the highest level. Now, you must do it with eight other actors. How do you do it? I don't know how you do it, but you got to always do it on a level of 10. When you find yourself slipping into a 9 or an 8, you got to hit yourself and say, "Hey, I got to be up at 10. This is 10 time." You look at other people and they're not at 10 because they're sipping warm tea, and they got a jacket around them and they're waiting for the director to set up the lights and the camera. You can't do that. You got to stay at 10. I'm not saying you got to be freaking out all the time. I'm saying you got to be prepared mentally at 10 all the time, because the audience wants you to be at 10. Even if you're being calm, you got to be at 10. That's the challenge. Then in water, it was very challenging because you must feel like the sharks are ripping you out of the water, and it was very difficult in that sense. I don't know if we achieved what I wanted, but it's tough.

Aaron Eckhart in 'Deep Water'. Photo: Jen Raoult.

MF: Did you shoot in a tank on a soundstage or were you in a practical location?

AE: No, you're in tanks with green screen, and the tanks are at 55°. They try to make it as comfortable as possible. So, you have that to fight against that, but there are some dangers. I mean, when you're swimming with a girl on your back and you're taking more water in than you want to, and you're not getting as big of breaths as you need, you have a certain responsibility there and there are people watching you. Look, the fun is being real. So, if you can convince yourself that there's a shark right there and he's coming at you and he's going to eat you, if you can somehow get in that ballpark, then everything's fun. It's when you can't get to that ballpark, that it becomes frustrating. So, Renny's helping you, and you have the other actors, the circumstances, and your preparation. It's all that, but that is the challenge in filmmaking.

MF: What was it like working with someone who clearly has experience making movies in this genre such as ‘Deep Blue Sea’ director Renny Harlin?

AE: I loved it. As you say, he's the pro. He's the go to guy in this genre. He loves filmmaking, and he’s always happy. I always say to Renny, "You really love this stuff, don't you?" He's like, "I love it!" He said to me one time, "I love every frame." He's always coming back and saying, "Look at this area, look at this frame." It's a big explosion and I’d say, "That looks awesome, Renny." So, he's great. He's willing to work with me, which means a lot to me, and I think that we're developing a rhythm together. I trust him as a filmmaker. He lets me do what I want to do. Hopefully he trusts me, so I like it. Everybody around him loves Renny. He's very good to the crew. At the beginning of the day, he has a pep talk. At the end of the day, he has a pep talk. He has giveaways. He always tries to keep the crew into what he's doing. So, he knows how to do it.

(L to R) Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley of Kiss in 'Biography: KiSStory'. Photo: The Biography Channel.

MF: Finally, the film is produced by rockstar Gene Simmons from KISS. Are you a KISS fan and did you get a chance to meet Gene while you were making this movie?

AE: Yeah. I grew up in the '70s. KISS was revolutionary in the '70s. It was like a brand-new thing, and of course, they didn't take their makeup off till years later. So, I never knew what those guys looked like, but I listened to KISS. Now, I did not know that Gene was a producer on this movie. We filmed in New Zealand and then we filmed in the Canary Islands. So, he never made the trip, I don't believe. But I'm glad he's into it. I hope it helps, and I'd love to do another one with him. So, get that out there!

'Deep Water' opens in theaters on May 1st.

What is the plot of ‘Deep Water’?

A group of international passengers traveling from Los Angeles to Shanghai are forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters. Now they must work together in hopes to overcome the frenzy of sharks drawn to the wreckage.