Emmy Rossum Attacks Her Second Big Disaster Movie: Rossum survived freezing temperatures in The Day After Tomorrow and has to scramble for safety on a capsized cruise ship in Poseidon. So what’s the appeal of disaster movies for the talented singer/actress? Rossum said, “Wolfgang Petersen. I’ve always really admired films like The Perfect Storm, Das Boot. This is like Das Big Boot. I’m always really impressed by how he blends that kind of action-thriller suspense with character and with emotion, and what real people go through in these kinds of situations.
He sent me this script and called me about it right after the tsunami problems. It just really hit home for me because I’d been watching it on the news every day. It really moved me because of that and realizing how the everyday quarrels and petty arguments that you have with your parents, or the people that you love, don’t really matter. Especially when you’re in these kinds of situations, the only thing that matters is being with the people that you love and being strong.”
Rossum continued. “I was really impressed by a character who wasn’t really the damsel in distress, which a lot of the times the girls are like whimpering in the corner. She’s pretty courageous for a 19-year-old girl in this kind of situation.”
There’s No Way to Prepare for Poseidon: Rossum thought doing stunt work in The Day After Tomorrow prepared her for the physical demands of Poseidon but she quickly found out she was wrong. “I thought it would but going into it, I really couldn’t anticipate how difficult it was going to be. It was really the toughest thing I think I’ve ever done, movie or otherwise in my life. It was the most physically difficult thing I’ve ever done - to have to learn how to scuba dive and free dive. Kurt Russell got pneumonia, Josh Lucas broke 10 tendons in his right hand, Mia [Maestro] was in the hospital with a concussion. The kid had a concussion. It was a pretty intense shoot. I was pretty much like purple from the neck down with bruises.
Every time everyone would fall, it’d be like, ‘Man down, cut!’ It was a crazy time but it was a lot of fun. It gave me an opportunity to do things and experience things and conquer fears that I never would have done. I mean, our first day of training they introduced me to this contraption called the Cage of Death. I was like, ‘Can’t we call it the Cage of Life? I don't know. A little more optimism here?’ [It] was this Plexiglas cube that they would sink over my head very slowly and I would have to gasp for my last breath. I’d basically sit under water until I had no air left and then give them the sign and they’d raise it up until after I was basically half done.”
Rossum said the purpose of the Cage of Death was to build up her lung capacity. Rossum added, “And also for you to conquer your own panic. To realize that when you’re in situations and shooting really 20 feet underwater in enclosed spaces, I mean, they wanted us to be like little Navy SEALS. But as a girl, I had to show the guys that girls are tough too.”
Bonding on the Set of Poseidon: Rossum said she definitely bonded with Kurt Russell during filming. “I felt like a lot of our scenes are together and the relationship between our characters is quite tumultuous, and I felt like I really learned a lot from his ability to improvise,” explained Rossum, “especially in a situation like this where the emotional intensity is so high and some of the dialogue that’s written on the page just doesn’t seem right. He really took his character from the inside out, as did I as well, and just tried to make it as real and in the moment and spontaneous as possible.”
And speaking of working with Kurt Russell, Rossum really had to rely on the veteran actor during one perilous scene. “We really did it over that pit of boiling/broiling water and it was really that high, long of a drop. I was really hanging onto his back by that thing, but we were tied to the ceiling by a very, very tiny little wire which was really more like a spool of thread, which they assured us would hold us. We just had to put our faith in that.”
It took ten long takes to accomplish that particular scene. “I think it’s funny because I said to the guys, ‘Can we construct some kind of platform with crash mats? God forbid.’ And they’re like, ‘No, we feel that might give you a false sense of security.’ And I was like, ‘Really? Because I’d be okay with that.’ But there were a lot of times like that.”
Page 2: The Set of Poseidon and Rossum's Singing Career
