Colin Farrell reveals he battled claustrophobia while making Thai cave rescue film

Hollywood star Colin Farrell has said it was an 'honour' to be involved in the 'extraordinary' film, despite finding it difficult to swim and suffering from claustrophobia

Colin Farrell has revealed he battled claustrophobia and couldn't 'really swim' during the making of Thirteen Lives, a new film depicting the expedition to rescue 12 young footballers from a cave in Thailand.

Colin, 46, and his co-star Tom Bateman said it was an "honour" to be part of the film and the experience had been both "terrifying" and "extraordinary".

The actor said filming underwater was an uphill struggle as he wasn't a skilled swimmer, but luckily, divers were on set to show all of the actors what to do.

"I can't really swim. It's a different world beneath the surface of the water," the Batman star told the Press Association.

"I’m claustrophobic so I struggled pretty much every day but I still vividly remember the last dive was one of my last days and I loved this experience very, very much but my God I was happy to get out of that," he added.

Colin Farrell will play cave diver John Volanthen

Image:

( Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Director Ron Howard joked Colin had failed to mention claustrophobia in his audition.

Colin said: "The guys doing it, even after everything we’ve done, I cannot believe what they did, and to be a small part of telling their story is a real honour.”

Thirteen Lives follows the aquatic rescue of youngsters and their coach, who became trapped after the cave flooded back in 2018.

The boys, aged between 11 and 16 and who were members of a youth football team, had cycled with their coach to the caves to explore when they became marooned inside.

The team had divers on set to help out

Image:

( Prime Video)

The film stars Colin and Viggo Mortensen as divers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton respectively.

Speaking about the making of the film, 63-year-old Viggo said: "“Everybody pulled together and that reflected the real rescue and that it was a very selfless, team-oriented effort.

"So it felt at times very real, sometimes too real, there were some very tight spots underwater."

Colin added: "I’ve done various things in my career but to be part of something that, in a time where the world seems to be living under greater and greater division, was really about these different people from different nationalities, different cultural backgrounds coming together for a common purpose, and one that was so terrifying, it was just a great gift.

British cave-diver Richard William Stanton helped rescue 12 boys and their soccer coach

Image:

( Linh Pham/Getty Images)

"We felt that spirit of collaboration the whole way throughout the shoot, and that was just a joy apart from how nervous I was in the water every day."

"It’s pretty extraordinary that we were able to give him the opportunity to do the things that we were given the opportunity to do," he said.

In 2019, divers Richard and John were both presented with the George Medal for their roles in the rescue mission.

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