ARTICLE
Sara Paxton and Chris Zylka in Shark Night 3D
By InCinemas / 20 Sep 2011 (Tuesday)
Source: Clover Films
[Watch Shark Night 3D Official Trailer [HD] below!]
SHARK NIGHT 3D Director David R. Ellis assembled a gorgeous and talented ensemble of up-and-coming actors to play the friends who find themselves trapped in a nightmare on what seemed to be the perfect weekend holiday. “They were all really passionate about doing the movie and excited to be in it,” says Ellis. “I’ve had a lot of luck in the past casting young actors and I think these guys are all going to be huge stars.
Sara Paxton, who plays Sara in the movie, was awesome in The House on the Left. She’s a good actress and obviously really pretty. She was our first choice. We were very lucky to get her and the rest of the cast.”
You may also be interested to Learn more about sharks in Shark Night 3D.
A pert blonde who rocks a bikini for most of the film, Sara has a dark secret that sets the action in motion. “My character is kind of a mystery at the beginning of the movie,” says Paxton. “We know that everyone is going to her house for a really fun party, but as the story unfolds, a lot more information comes to light.”
The actress, who had previously faced down a vicious gang in Last House on the Left and explored a haunted hotel in The Innkeepers, thought she was prepared for the rigors of Shark Night 3D, but soon found her professional dedication tested. “The very first time we were on set, we were already doing underwater scenes in the tank,” she says. “It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done physically. We had a mini dive-training course for the underwater action. We had to learn to breathe through regulators, and there was someone with us underwater all the time to make sure we were okay.”
[SHARK NIGHT 3D Official Trailer in HD] (Opens 6 October)
Even those precautions didn’t completely prepare Sara for the reality of what was in store for her and the rest of the cast. “When you’re underwater for that long, you can’t see anything clearly,” she says. “You have no depth perception. When they brought out the sharks, they looked so real. They were flying at me with real shark teeth. People are really going to be surprised at just how realistic the sharks are. The way they thrash around with their mouths opening is dead on.”
Paxton acquired a number of other new skills for the role, even learning to pilot a boat. “I had to be able to go really fast and do all these tricks,” she says. “It was awesome. I felt like such a badass. The experience was so much fun, even though it was really challenging. After this, I feel like I can do anything.”
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Working with a cast made up almost entirely of contemporaries made the work seem like a vacation at times, says Paxton. “I knew it was going to be fun from the moment we all got on the plane together to go to the shoot,” she says. “We all clicked automatically. The single most challenging thing in this entire movie was staying in character during the serious scenes, because we all got along so well. With Dustin, I could not keep a straight face.”
CHRIS ZYLKA (stars as Blake) is a rising young star who will soon be seen in The Amazing Spiderman as Flash Thompson, high-school nemesis of the young Spidey played by Andrew Garfield. This potential blockbuster co-stars Emma Stone and Martin Sheen. Zylka recently wrapped production on Piranha 3DD, the comic horror sequel in which he co-stars with Danielle Panabaker and Matt Bush.
Click to visit SHARK NIGHT 3D Official Website!
Blake “has higher self-esteem than most,” says Zylka, who will star as Flash Thompson in the highly anticipated 2012 release, The Amazing Spider-Man. “I think Blake is misunderstood the first couple acts of the film. Initially, he seems kind of cocky, but later in the film, we see his emotional side.”
SHARK NIGHT 3D opens InCinemas 6 October 2011.
Click to view its movie stills!
