Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor has revealed how director Juan Antonio Bayona wanted to use real Tsunami survivors for his new movie The Impossible. The film centres around the Thailand Tsunami tragedy in 2004 and Ewan has been talking about the film.
Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in The Impossible
McGregor said, “In some of the scenes, Juan Antonio Bayona, the director, decided to surround us with real survivors from the 2004 tsunami, which was very special. There was an energy about that, which was really useful for us... We were surrounded by people who really knew this first-hand experience of a tsunami.”
He added, “We shot all of the film in Thailand in Khao Lak, where the family had actually been staying, and in fact, shot in the hotel where they had been staying (Orchid Beach Resort)... We spent a lot of time with them, they're really incredible; it's always a responsibility when you're playing somebody who exists.”
The Impossible scene
Ewan continued, “In this case I was working with a really lovely man, Henry, who I liked very much, but our responsibility was mainly to everybody who was there, the people who lost their lives there, the people who lost their loved ones there. It's a terrible tragedy... We tried to hold that respect in our hearts.”
Ewan McGregor shares the screen with Naomi Watts in The Impossible, which is set to be released in the UK on January 1, 2013.
The Impossible movie trailer
