Wes Bentley found filming Pioneer a "challenge" after suffering a childhood trauma.
The 35-year-old actor plays Mike in the upcoming thriller film, which follows engineers at the beginning of Norway's oil harvesting program as they dive into the North Sea to fit a petroleum pipe. A lot of the movie was shot underwater - a prospect which Wes initially feared after going through a life-threatening event as a kid.
"Yeah, I did a bit [of research]. I wasn’t able to do a simulation dive of considerable depth; I did more pool training, which is about five meters. They do that sort of training because apparently the most dangerous part is getting to five to 15 metres down and below that it’s all the same – or similar, I should say," he explained to denofgeek.com.
"When I was five, I almost drowned, and I had a fear of water until I was 16. I wouldn’t dunk my head in a pool or I wouldn’t let shower water hit my face, and it took a while to get over. So this was a particular challenge for me.
"In training, we started with a full helmet, which was alright; I could sort of do that once I trusted the oxygen was there, but after that they fully stripped it down until you just had the tube in your mouth and you were going under with just a tube and that was a real challenge for me."
Wes - who shot to fame after starring in 1999 Oscar-winning movie American Beauty - sports a thick beard in Pioneer. The handsome star continued to recall the time and effort put into getting the facial hair just right.
"It was weird. It was strange because I shot nine days on that film, but they were spread out over a month, and so I would have that beard until it grew into a normal shape, but I’d have that shape and that definition – they put tattoo ink in it, to give it definition – and I had to go out to Walmart or Target or out to eat with my wife and kids with that beard and I felt like kind of a tool because I’m not the type to manscape like that!" he laughed.
