In 2018, a group of twelve boys and their coach nearly lost their lives trapped in a flooded cave. It was an incredible story that made headlines across the world. News led to a number of helpful souls trying to lend a hand to save these Thirteen Lives. It’s an inspirational story, and one ripe for a feature film telling. And the man who was the perfect voice for it happened to be filmmaker Ron Howard. The director collected an impressive cast, and has given us a powerful cinematic telling of this awe inspired tale. The cast he gathered includes Colin Farrell, Viggo Mortensen, Joel Edgerton, and Tom Bateman as the British divers who lent their time to help. It also features wonderful performances from Sahajak Boonthankit, Teeradon Supapunpinyo, Weir Sukollawat Kanaros, and Pattrakorn Tungsupakul.
There are certain junkets where it is easy to get even more excited about the film from the stories the talent shares. Thirteen Lives is one of them. First up, we spoke to the amazing Ron Howard, and Co-Producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon. Right away, JoBlo.com received a bit of love from Mr. Howard. Needless to say, that’s a massive honor. Both Ron and Raymond opened up about taking on this story, and working with this astounding collection of actors. Mr. Howard also talked about the choice to let these fine gentlemen do the diving themselves. Trust me when I say the fact that you clearly see Farrell, Edgerton, Mortensen, and Bateman dealing with the underwater sequences, it makes it all the more intense.
Next up, we spoke with both Weir Sukollawat Kanaros and Pattrakorn Tungsupakul. The two are sublime here, adding a wonderful reality to the roles they take on. Using a translator, the two talked about playing their perspective characters. One of the most impressive things about the film is the cast that surrounds the main players. Each of the performances, with Kanaros as “Saman” and Tungsupakul as one of the boy’s mothers’, helped bring heart to this powerful feature.
It’s always a joy to speak with Joel Edgerton and Viggo Mortensen. One thing that really impressed me is that Viggo made sure to giving his co-star Teeradon Supapunpinyo, who plays “Coach,” plenty of time to talk. I was thrilled he did because the young actor was excellent here, and I loved what he had to say about taking on the role. As for both Mortensen and Edgerton, the two opened up about working with Howard, and the many elements that went into the roles, including the diving skills they used. All three actors are terrific in this.
Finally, it was a massive joy to see Mr. Colin Farrell again. Not only is the man one of my favorite actors working today, he’s also one of the kindest people you are likely to meet. After a quick reunion, we jumped into a conversation that included Farrell, Tom Bateman and Sahajak Boonthankit. The three opened up about playing the real life characters, and getting to have a bit of personal time with them. Even though Boonthankit, hasn’t met Governor Naronsak in person, he did an excellent job bringing his likeness to the the silver screen. And yes, all three men were simply incredible. It was not only an honor to not only speak to these individuals, but it was especially satisfying being that it is such a moving feature film – you can check out my review here.
Thirteen Lives is currently in limited release, and premieres today on Prime Video. If you’d like to find a bit of hope in humanity, I highly recommend you check out Thirteen Lives.