Making of The Abyss: How Ed Harris almost drowned during filming

During production of The Abyss, Ed Harris filmed in a dive suit with a helmet full of water meant to look like "breathable liquid", and this meant holding his breath for long takes. An error with his safety diver who was unable to deliver him air caused him to nearly drown.

[@dissectingdiy]

Holy crap what Ed Harris and everyone had to go through.

[@edwardmorley5273]

You could really feel for him, an amazing actor in a very Frank account of something that nearly took his life.

[@astridvvv9662]

I'm tearing up hearing him talk about something he's clearly traumatized by but trying to keep it some what contained outwardly in the style of stoic 80s man. The way Ed expresses the impact of this experience suggests self- the the his internalized anger and the disappointment he felt for himself for the trauma he experienced. What he went through was like waterboarding but worse because he's having the sensation of drowning but with the knowledge that he's submerged 45 feet down while having to observe and experience TWO safety mechanisms totally fail you. All the preparation in the world-diving instruction, psychological preparation, breath work/fitness training, rigorous safety briefings, continuous on site expert supervision-can't ready you for what Ed was put through. You sign to your safety diver that you're low on air and need him to bring your respirator-something you've trained/prepped for many times-only for him to be tangled up in equotneht out of having to watch his assigned safety diver getting tangled up, then being handed a incorrectly orientated respirator, sicking in water (waterboard experience 1)

[@chadkent1241]

The cast and crew had every right and reason to call it The Abuse

[@Interstellar-in5wb]

(Apologies for the out of sync audio: I tried to re-upload this with the audio sync fixed but KZbin blocks the new upload)

[@casedistorted]

Yeah you gotta love KZbin's new auto moderation bot systems. Such a nightmare. Hey, at least we made it to 2023! Happy New Year!

[@DylanZ1201]

Cameron did a lot of questionable things during the filming of this movie. The animal abuse with the rats, forcing his actors to do long scenes underwater with no direct oxygen supply, etc.

[@astridvvv9662]

I'm sure if they were able they would have done a double layer glass helmet in the style of those toy baby bottles that give the illusion of liquid being emptied and filled by turning it upside down? Perhaps it wouldn't work under water or something? Surely Jim wouldn't put Ed through this if there was any possible way to pull off the stunt that would keep him from having to ACTUALLY do it, for real? I'm a 34 year old woman who has never experienced any water related fear/anxiety in all my years of being in water since learning to swim as a baby and even I am getting panicked by just the thought of what Ed was made to do.