Deepwater Horizon is set to hit theaters this weekend and is a biographical film that tells the story of the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and the resulting oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion killed 11 of the 126 workers on the rig.
The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, Dylan O’Brien and Kate Hudson. Wahlberg, who also produced the film, portrays Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician of the rig.
“Well, for us, you know, after Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf in 2010, you know, it seemed like all the news, all the focus was on the environmental disaster, and we wanted to honor the eleven people that lost their lives, all the people that survived the Deepwater, and anybody that’s ever been out there and worked on a rig,” Wahlberg told BackstageOL’s Dave Morales. “This is to honor those people.”
Wahlberg also went on to describe how he got into his role as Williams:
“Here’s a guy who loves his wife, loves his child, but you know, he goes out there, does a very dangerous job to provide a better life for them. And it’s something that’s probably – at least in it’s early stages – pretty exciting. You know, you’re out on a rig. You know, you’re taking a helicopter out there. You’re out there with the guys, the water, the camaraderie, the excitement…If you’re successful, it’s a very lucrative job, but it’s dangerous and you make a lot of sacrifice and I can identify with that. And you know, Mike [Williams] did a pretty good job of taking me through the entire incident so…I was able to find myself in that headspace pretty quickly.”
Watch the interview below:
