Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, and Joel Edgerton Join the Cast of Ron Howard's Thai Cave Rescue Pic THIRTEEN LIVES
Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises, The Lord of the Rings), Colin Farrell (In Bruges, The Gentlemen), and Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Boy Erased) have joined the cast of director Ron Howard’s upcoming pic, Thirteen Lives.
The film based on the real-life rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded Thailand cave in 2018. It took an entire crew of heroic rescuers in a dangerous operation that cost one rescue diver, Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan, his life. All of the boys, and their coach, were saved before floodwaters completely filled the caves.
The rest of the cast includes Weir Sukollawat (Malila), Thiraphat Sajakul (The Serpent), Sahajak Boonthanakit (The Serpent), Vithaya Pansringarm (The Prey), Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo (Bad Genius), Nophand Boonyai (Only God Forgives), Tom Bateman (Death on the Nile), Paul Gleeson (The Thin Red Line), and Lewis Fitz-Gerald (Pitch Black).
Mortensen portrays Richard Stanton, “who specializes in rescues through the Cave Rescue Organization and the British Cave Rescue Council. In 2019 he was honored with George Medal, the second-highest civilian award for bravery. Previously he had been made an MBE for his cave diving rescue accomplishments.”
Farrell portrays John Volanthen, “a veteran cave diver who specializes in cave exploration and underwater rescue. He is part of the South and Mid Wales Cave Rescue, and the British Cave Rescue Council. He was honored with George Medal, the second-highest civilian award for bravery.”
Edgerton portrays Dr. Richard Harris, “an anesthetist and cave diver with over 30 years of experience, who was awarded the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award at the Australian technical diving conference Oztek, to mark his exceptional contributions to cave diving exploration.”
Sukollawat plays a former “Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan; Sajakul plays Anand, a Thai Navy SEAL instrumental in the rescue effort; Boonthanakit plays the Chiang Rai province acting governor Narongsak Osatanakorn; Pansringarm plays General Anuphond; Supapunpinyo portrays the boy’s coach “Ek” Ekkaphon Chanthawong, and Boonyai will portray Thanet Natisri, a groundwater expert contacted by the Thai military, who together helped make the seemingly impossible rescue happen.”
The cast also includes Tom Bateman as Chris Jewell, “a Diving Officer for the British Cave Rescue Council as well as a member of the Cave Diving Group who has led many overseas cave diving expeditions including leading a team which set the Western Hemisphere cave depth record in 2013. He was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.”
Paul Gleeson portrays Jason Mallinson, “a member of the Cave Rescue Organisation, and British Cave Rescue Council – core International Dive Team. Mallinson is also a member of the Cave Diving Group – the oldest amateur technical and cave diving organization in the world. He was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal.”
Lewis Fitz-Gerald will appear as Vernon Unsworth, “a British rescue worker and diver who was a key member of the rescue team.”
via: Deadline