As preparation for this film, you travelled to Russia to meet some of the survivors of the real K-19 tragedy. What influence did that have?
One of the interesting things was that a submarine is by its nature compartmentalized. And so the torpedo men had a different story to the reactor officers, and then other members of the crew who worked in other departments had different stories. And because these guys hadn't met since shortly after the event, they hadn't really had the opportunity to talk with each other about it. These events were declared a matter of military secrecy and these guys were broken up and sent to different commands. So they didn't have a chance to hear each other's stories until 30-40 years later. It was interesting because at many points their stories didn't really match up. So it was difficult to find the story, but I think we got it as close as you can.
What was the most important thing you learned about life on a submarine?
I think it was important to understand how the environment affects the behaviour of the men who are living in it.
This film is unusual in that it's a Hollywood movie but it's about a Russian story with Russian characters and from their point of view...
It was a unique opportunity and a unique effort. To tell the story of another culture from that culture's point of view... well, I don't know of another American film that's attempted to do that without an American character running through it or an American editorial point of view.
Why did you all do Russian accents rather than just use your own accents?
I grew up thinking all Nazis spoke with English accents because all the actors who played them in movies were British actors! Look, Liam Neeson is Irish, we had other British actors, we had Russian actors. I wanted the audience to be aware that this was a Russian story and to keep them hooked into that during the movie.
