Wahlberg hopes ‘Deepwater Horizon’ honours victims

ACTOR Mark Wahlberg said “the biggest responsibility” for himself and the makers of the new movie, “Deepwater Horizon,” was to honour the real-life victims of the 2010 oil rig disaster.

“The oil can ultimately be cleaned up, ( but) those 11 men can’t be replaced,” Mike Williams, oil rig engineer and survivor of the disaster, told Reuters at the fi lm’s London premiere on Monday. Wahlberg plays Williams in the fi lm.

“Those were fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins. We can’t replace those guys and so when they approached me about doing this fi lm, I thought, ‘What better way to promote their story’,” he added.

“Deepwater Horizon,” due out in theatres on Friday, focuses on the hours before and after the BP Plc rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010, leading to the worst offshore oil disaster in US history. Eleven workers were killed and millions of barrels of oil spewed onto the shorelines of several states for nearly three months.

In the movie directed by Peter Berg, Wahlberg plays Mike Williams, one of the last people to escape from the burning rig.

The real-life Williams joined Wahlberg at the premiere that was also attended by cast members Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, John Malkovich and Kate Hudson.

“The focus wasn’t really on who made what mistakes and who was responsible. Really, it was about the heroics of the 11 people and the inspiring things that they did to survive and help one another,” Wahlberg said.

“Deepwater Horizon” examines the decisions concerning safety made by BP executives leading up to the disaster, highlighting the pressure that workers were under to save money as drilling fell behind.

British oil major BP in July estimated costs from the disaster will total about US$ 62 billion.

“I never faulted BP for being a company for profit. That’s what fuels our economy. We all use fuel. I get that they’re a company for profit,” Berg said.

“Where I think they erred was when they got behind schedule and behind budget, some of the guys from BP pushed too hard, they moved too quickly.”

In October 2015, US officials announced an agreement of more than US$ 20 billion to settle federal and state claims against BP over the spill. — Reuters