Shailene Woodley once demanded her Adrift director Baltasar Kormakur perform a cliff jump stunt with her.
In the film, Shailene and Sam Claflin take on the roles of Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp, a couple who meet and fall in love while travelling in the South Pacific – but must fight for their lives when their boat is caught in a hurricane and cast adrift.
Baltasar pushed the pair hard on set as the majority of scenes were filmed in the open sea, but the Divergent actress got her own back by demanding he complete one of their stunts, a jump from rocky outcrop into a river, himself.
Speaking about shooting the scene at a Q&A following a screening of the film in London on Monday (25Jun18), Sam and Baltasar explained that both cast and crew had made the leap – with the filmmaker revealing his leading lady demanded he do it too.
“That was only because of Shailene… Shailene insisted on having me jump,” he said, adding that he landed “right on top of her” and feared he might “break” her.
Baltasar then admitted that filming the sequence was a logistical nightmare, as the initial part of the river he had chosen was too shallow due to lack of rain – meaning cast and crew had to trek for hours upstream with their equipment to find a better spot.
Despite revealing that working with the Everest director is very different to being pampered on a traditional set, Sam also described the experience as the “adventure of a lifetime” and shared that it was something of a struggle to look frightened while jumping into the river – as he was enjoying himself so much.
“For me, the hardest part for me was pretending I was scared because I was so excited – especially when I watched Shailene do it and survive,” he smiled.
