How The Cast Of Thirteen Lives Researched Their Real-Life Characters

Three of the "Thirteen Lives" actors interviewed by Looper were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to speak to the people they were playing directly and regularly. Rick Stanton, played by Viggo Mortensen, was on set as a technical advisor for the diving scenes, as was diver James Mallinson (played by Paul Gleeson). Mortensen said that even before they met while filming in Australia, "I did a lot of Zooms talking to [Rick Stanton], trying to hear the way he spoke and his rhythms, physically and verbally and all that." Mortensen also noted that Stanton "seems happy" with the finished film and the accuracy of how everything was portrayed.

Colin Farrell and Tom Bateman also spoke to their respective characters, John Valanthen and Chris Jewell. Farrell notes that, while time zone differences made communicating with Valanthen a bit more work to arrange, "John made himself really available for me" and "was incredibly open with me about his experience during this two weeks and also how he got into cave diving and some of the personal things in his life."

Bateman says that Jewell spoke to him for "hours and hours" and was very responsive to questions. "Personally, I could text Chris every morning, if I had a question," he said. "He'd tell me what he did and what he went through. The work was already done for us." Bateman says that many of the divers, Jewell included, attended the film's London premiere and offered high praise to all of the actors.