It was Saturday, June 23, 2018, when Ekapol Chanthawong, coach of the youth soccer team «Wild Boars» decided to take them on a field trip to «relieve» them from the drudgery of their regular training sessions. So, they headed to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai province. However, the trip lasted a little longer than they expected. They left the cave on July 10. The twelve children and their coach were trapped inside the cave due to a flash flood at the cave’s entrance caused by heavy rainfall.
After days of continuous rain, the cave flooded, and for 18 days they lived through a complete nightmare. Eventually, they were all found alive and starving on a rock, 4 kilometers from the cave’s entrance.
«The Rescue of the Century,» as that unprecedented story was dubbed, brought experts from 17 countries to Thailand, who rushed to help save the children —as well as 10,000 volunteers—has been made into a movie (preceded in 2021 by the BAFTA-nominated documentary *The Rescue*), titled *Thirteen Lives*, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard.
The film, which premieres on Amazon Prime Video on August 5, stars Colin Farrell, Viggo Mortensen, Joel Edgerton, and Jason Bateman.
Farrell, who plays John Voladen, a veteran cave diver, spoke to ET about the film and revealed the panic attacks he experienced during filming, especially during the underwater scenes.
«Terrifying—that’s the word. Terrifying!» said the actor, going on to explain that the sets were based on the actual structure of the caves, making the experience seem terrifyingly realistic.
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«The production team created four or five different caves modeled after the Tham Luang caves, filled them with water, and we went down into them. We weren’t actually swimming; we were floating on the surface of the water. But as we went down and I looked up at the water from below and saw that there was a ceiling right above my head and no air at all, it all made me panic,» he said.
With the help of two men who were part of the actual five-member rescue team, the actor said he made it, but not without experiencing panic attacks.
When Farrell asked one of the safety divers during the third week of filming, «What was the most dangerous movie you’ve ever been in?» the diver replied: «I’ve shot about twenty movies, and this one is the most dangerous, because if something happens, there’s a problem…».
He emphasized, however, that it was «a wonderful team, and it was a pleasure for me to be part of the film.».
Vigo Mortensen’s 63-year-old co-star also spoke about the pressure during the scenes filmed in the water. «Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe,» he told People. «It felt like a long time, but it was only a matter of seconds. I panicked,» he admitted.
