When “The Devil’s Mouth” director Jeff Wadlow met the cast of his bloody shark movie, he made one thing clear.
“‘Listen, this is going to be the most physically demanding job you’ve ever had. Not just because of the stunt work and all the underwater work, but the fact that when you have a simple dialogue scene, you’re going to be treading water,'” Wadlow recalls telling Kathryn Newton, Lana Condor and the rest of the ensemble.
Written by Aja Gabel and Myung Joh Wesner, “The Devil’s Mouth” was named to the Black List back in 2019. Newton and Condor lead the cast as Sara and Max, two best friends whose friendship is tested after they get trapped in a freshwater cave — along with the rest of their college buddies, played by Gavin Casalegno and Tommi Rose — while taking a trip to Thailand.
Of course, things get complicated when a bull shark enters the scene. In order to prep for the intensive shoot, the actors spent two weeks treading water, doing breath holds and training with real kayaks. Besides one stunt where Newton’s character had to hop off a 35-foot cliff into a shallow pool of water, all the actors were game to do their own stunts — safely, of course.
“All the rock climbing, diving, underwater work, breath holds, getting dragged around on winches, that was all them,” Wadlow says.
