INTERVIEW

ENDING up as shark bait is a terrifying thought, but Blake Lively was up to the challenge in new horror thriller The Shallows. She plays medical student and keen surfer Nancy who is stranded off shore after being attacked by a great white shark.

Like many shark films before it, The Shallows blends isolation, thrill and terror with an epic battle for survival and Blake prepared for the movie by cage diving with sharks in the wild.

“I felt so much better after I saw them,” says the Hollywood star who turns 39 later this month. “I saw a great white in the water. I was cage diving with conservationists as they were studying them, tracking them and doing their best to protect them.

“I was able to look at them in their environment and really be in awe. They were just swimming around beautifully and I felt so safe and I didn’t feel afraid of sharks any more.”

Blake, who met her actor husband Ryan Reynolds when they were filming The Green Lantern, says working on The Shallows was also physically demanding.

“You never have a moment where you can relax in this film because, from the time she is attacked by the shark, we all know what is about to happen. We’re all waiting for the attack to happen.

“If you can imagine what it would be like to be 200 yards from shore that’s one of the scariest elements. You think of a shark attack happening in deep water where people don’t stand a chance. The fact here is that she is so close to shore and really does stand a chance.

“There is only one thing separating her from survival... and that’s just a giant great white shark. And she’s got a leg Blake spent days alone that’s bleeding out. on a tiny outcrop of rock “So if you can imagine what and did much of her

own stuntwork it would feel like to have been attacked by a shark. And then to fight to make it to land or fight to stay alive long enough for someone to find you. It’s non-stop.

“She never gets a moment to catch her bearings. Plus the elements

4SEA MONSTERS GET SMART

DEEP Blue Sea in 1999 saw scientists on a remote island facing an attack by intelligent sharks. Samuel L Jackson and LL Cool J were among those facing the watery menace. of the sun and the salt water, the dehydration and the weakness. She’s not out there for a lot of time but she’s losing a lot of blood, she’s not eating anything. It’s so taxing on the human body.”

The Gossip Girl actress says the premise of the film is not so far-fetched. “Because of climate change, you know you think of shark attacks happening in deeper waters, but sharks are forced to move closer to shore now. The majority of shark attacks now happen within 200 yards of the shore.

“And that’s so scary because you feel when you’re playing near the shore you’re fine, you’re safe if you’re not out in the deep water. But you’re really not. You really have to have an awareness always that you are in the wilds. You are in the land of big, incredible, majestic wild creatures and if you’re wearing a wet suit you are dressed as a seal.”

Blake, who has a daughter James, one, with Reynolds and is pregnant with their second child, spent a lot of time stranded on a small rock during filming.

“They didn’t hire a stunt double until the last two weeks of shooting and every single day there wasn’t a single scene that was not stuntheavy,” says Blake, “when I was doing the underwater sequences, I was in four and a half foot waves,

whether I

5A FORGOTTEN CLASSIC

DIVERS fighting for survival against hungry sharks after being accidently left behind on an excursion was the starting point for Open Water in 2003. A sparse but effective thriller. was in the tank or in the ocean.

“I was about 300 yards away from shore. They were dropping me off on this rock that was 3ft by 3ft. Everyone then went back to shore because there were helicopter shots so you couldn’t see any boats or anyone around me.”

She says the appeal of movie is a primal drive to survive. “Nancy is not someone who is necessarily equipped to go head to head with a great white shark,” she laughs. “She can barely deal with emotional challenges in her own life and here she is facing this incredible beast. So it’s neat to think ‘Wow, you know humans are incredibly resourceful.’

“Because it really comes down to either she’s going to die trying to live or she’s just going to die giving up. She’s either going to drown and get eaten by a shark or just try and survive and maybe make it.”

The movie was filmed off Lord Howe Island in Australia and Blake says: “No-one has filmed there before so it’s exciting to share a place that is so pure. There’s a population of 300 people and it really is idyllic, heaven on earth.”

She laughs and says The Shallows is a great summer movie. “There’s really cool, fun, sexy moments and there’s also terrifying, suspenseful, nerve wracking, edge of your seat moments.

“It’s two apex predators – a human and a shark – both fighting to survive.” The Shallows is in cinemas now.

6AN ILL WIND...

SHARKNADO in 2013 saw a freak hurricane dump deadly sharks on Los Angeles. It has been followed by several sequels including mockumentary Sharknado: Heart Of Sharkness last year.

7DOUBLED UP WITH LAUGHTER

THERE was twice the trouble in 2-Headed Shark Attack (2012). Carmen Electra was among those battling an underwater mutant. Surprisingly missed out on Oscar nominations.