The shark genre will gain a new member this weekend when Jon Turtletaub's The Meg debuts in theaters, and the adaptation of Steve Alten's novel will bring some serious aquatic carnage to the big screen. Star Jason Statham made headlines for actually swimming with sharks to prepare for the film, but it turns out that co-star Ruby Rose already did that decades ago during her time as an Australian surfer. In a recent interview, the Orange is the New Black star told me:
I had already done that. Just being Australian and surfing and growing up kind of in the ocean. This is twenty-something years ago when we did see sharks, but the idea of them attacking was a lot less frequent. They weren't as hungry. There was more food. There's been some changes in the ocean and I feel like that's why they're getting desperate and they're coming closer to the shores and things like that.
So, if you were a surfer in Australia two decades ago, then seeing sharks simply went with the territory. However, as Ruby Rose explained in our chat, seeing them was apparently less dangerous because there was a greater abundance of food for them, which meant that they would not go after humans quite as often. Nevertheless, even with that excuse, I think it is safe to say that it takes some serious gut to get in the water with sharks, regardless of how much food they have.
Of course, Rainn Wilson apparently had his own way to prepare for The Meg ahead of taking on his role as Jack Morris. Building off of what Ruby Rose said about sharks, The Office alum said:
I prepared by watching Jason Statham movies.
That's probably a much safer way to prepare, isn't it? If you want a closer look at CinemaBlend's conversation with these two Meg stars, then you can check out a clip from the interview, below!
The Meg stars Jason Statham as Jonas Taylor, a deep-sea rescue diver tasked with taking down an enormous megalodon shark uncovered during a scientific expedition. Ruby Rose stars as a computer programmer named Jaxx, and Rainn Wilson stars as a billionaire named Jack Morris, the man with the money behind the whole thing. As previously mentioned, the movie is based on a book written by Steve Alten, with National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub behind the camera.
The Meg opens in theaters tomorrow! If you want to learn more about the film, make sure to check out our review and our review roundup to see what people are saying. Moreover, if you need more information on the rest of this year's major movie release, then you can head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide!
