Thirteen Lives, a new survival biopic from Ron Howard, recounts the massive rescue efforts taken when a team of youth soccer players and their coach from Thailand were trapped in a cave after the tunnels began flooding due to heavy rainfall. The unprecedented situation had parents terrified and brought out many rescue teams from around the world. In Thirteen Lives, Weir Sukollawat Kanaros portrays Royal Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, who lost his life after delivering air tanks to fellow SEAL divers.
Additionally, actress Pattrakorn “Ploy” Tungsupakul plays Buahom, the mother of one of the boys trapped in the cave. Speaking to both Kanaros and Tungsupakul exclusively, the on-screen mom shared just how she captured her performance, which brilliantly captures how important the role of the trapped boys’ parents was in motivating officials to help save them. “Before the production, she did not have a chance to talk or meet with any parents, because it was still under a very serious COVID pandemic last two years, but how she prepared for her role is she watched the documentaries, the interviews of those real parents,” Ploy said through an interpreter. “Those films [were] taken during the incident to get to learn about that reaction, that emotion that actually happened during the incident.”
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As for Kanaros, his portrayal of the late rescue hero is a crucial element of the film, as it honors the late Thai Nave SEAL who gave his life while trying to help save the boys. While speaking to Kanaros, we learned that he did have some diving experience prior to the role, but nothing as intense as cave diving. “I never done diving cave before, but I done just rescue diving. We all have a diving certificate before shooting,” he said, later adding, “And we have the professional safety team, also help us during the shoot.”
Kanaros continued, “Diving in a cave is different from open water, narrower, darker. Quite scary.” Ploy shared that she too had some diving experience, but never in caves. “She did. She does both scuba diving and free diving in her personal life, so she can relate well how difficult the operation is when she compared diving in the open sea versus diving in a close dark cave,” the interpreter shared, on behalf of Ploy. The actress herself then added, “I don’t want to try to do it. I don’t want to try keep diving.”
Thirteen Lives, Viggo Mortensen, Joel Edgerton, Tom Bateman, and Paul Gleeson as rescue team members who travel to Thailand and worked to bring the boys out of the cave. Other stars of the film include Thiraphat Sajakul, Sahajak “Poo” Boonthanakit, Vithaya Pansringarm, Teeradon “James” Supapunpinyo, Nophand Boonyai, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, and U Gambira. Howard directed the film from a screenplay by William Nicholson, based on a story written by Nicholson and Don Macpherson. Thirteen Lives is now playing in select theaters and on Prime Video.
