Summer can officially begin with a shark movie taking a chomp out of the box office. Blake Lively stars in The Shallows. She plays Nancy, a Texas med school dropout and ace surfer. She fulfills a lifelong dream by surfing the desolate Mexican beach where her deceased mother surfed while pregnant. Her reverie is interrupted by a horrific shark attack. Barely escaping the initial onslaught, Nancy clings to a rock within near sight of the shore. Her hungry adversary circling continuously as Nancy struggles to survive alone at sea.
Spanish Director Jaume Collet-Serra takes a minimalist view in The Shallows. The entire story is girl versus shark versus nature. Nancy takes quite a beating from the elements during her ordeal. She’s also wounded, starving, and dehydrated. What starts as the opportunity of a lifetime becomes a countdown to survival. Her precious rock gradually disappears as the tide comes in.
Blake Lively is a one woman show in the film. The actress pushed her mental and physical boundaries during the shoot. In our interview, she discusses how her real cuts and bruises ended up on screen. The majority of the film was shot in a water tank on set in Australia. The shark is fleeting, ominous, a CGI beast that packs a wallop.
Blake Lively was several months pregnant with her second child during our interview. The actress is married to Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds. She was upbeat, all smiles, and very proud of her effort in the film. She wanted everyone to know that filming was no luxury vacation. She broke her nose on set and it added realism to the film. Blake also had a few tidbits of wisdom for her fans if they ever should encounter a real shark.
The Shallows is a Sony Pictures release and open now in theaters. It’s an entertaining thrill ride with extra bite. In a summer filled with superheroes, a vicious shark is welcome respite. It’s not comparable to a classic like Jaws, but is much better than recent forays into the genre. Check out our exclusive interview below with Blake Lively.