“It’s a challenge for everyone growing up to declare their independence and define who they are. The accident on board just accelerates the process,” Rossum continues, noting that, “In a situation like this people’s true colors are revealed and I think Jennifer emerges as a woman who is smart, courageous and loving.”
Production tested Rossum’s own courage and stamina beyond what she first expected. “I knew it would be physically and emotionally demanding just from reading the script,” she says. “But I didn’t realize the full extent of it until I was there. None of us did. Suddenly we were swimming 20 feet underwater in a tight corridor or sling-shotting across a three-story drop with just a harness and no safety net. It took a lot of courage, but I came to realize that fear is 85% mental. Once you conquer that, everything is easier.”
Likewise, in the role of Jennifer’s secret fiancé Christian, Mike Vogel successfully faced down his own potential vertigo – with help from an unexpected source, director Petersen’s passion for classical music. “It was the most surreal moment of the entire shoot,” Vogel recalls. “We were standing on a sort of balcony 50 feet in the air over what remained of the lobby, upside down, and all around us was steam, sparks and water. We were all feeling a little apprehensive. Then Wolfgang surprised all of us by blasting a classical symphony. Once we all realized what was happening, we broke down laughing and it helped all of us relax. It was wild, though. The cameras and everything took on a musical rhythm, with Wolfgang as the conductor.”
From the beginning, Christian is anxious to reveal the truth about his relationship with Jennifer. An honorable young man, he feels the longer they delay the less respect Ramsey will have for him. “Throughout the story, Christian is anxious to prove himself to his future fatherin- law,” says Vogel. “He knows that in Ramsey’s eyes they are still kids. After the wave hits, everyone is focused on escaping but for Christian it’s still a matter of proving to Ramsey that he is worthy of his daughter.”
Aware of Ramsey’s accomplishments and stature, Vogel explains, “Christian knows he has a lot to live up to. Somehow he needs to show Ramsey that he is the man for Jennifer and that he is able to protect her. Their climb through the ship gives him that opportunity.”
Very much in love and anxious to begin their new life together, Jennifer and Christian throw their fates in with the others, aware that the next few hours might be all the time they will ever have.
On the opposite side of the romantic spectrum is Richard Nelson, described by Richard Dreyfuss as, “a lonely, middle-aged man who is broken-hearted because his long-time love, with whom he intended to share this cruise, has suddenly left him for another man.”
New Year’s Eve finds Nelson alone at the ship’s railing, preparing to jump overboard. The sight of the approaching rogue wave snaps him out of his sad reverie and sends him rushing back to the ballroom in time for the melee that follows as the room rotates a full 360 degrees. “He ends up being a real source of encouragement and even humor to the other survivors,” says Dreyfuss, noting that Nelson’s renewed will to live is severely tested more than once in the upward climb. “He gets injured along the way but he never gives up.”
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