Sean Connery Was Quite Nervous Scuba Diving With Sharks For Never Say Never Again
The late, legendary Sean Connery had a long and successful career in Hollywood, appearing in successful films like "The Untouchables," "The Hunt for Red October" and "The Rock." Although he won an Academy Award for his work in "The Untouchables," Connery is most famous for playing James Bond. Throughout his career, the Scottish actor portrayed 007 in seven films, where he made the spy a household name.
On-screen, Connery perfectly embodies the cool, quick-thinking, secret agent, but the actor wasn't always as calm and collected as his film persona. After a 12-year hiatus, Connery returned to play 007 in 1983's "Never Say Never Again," where the actor struggled to keep his cool guy exterior while scuba diving with a very large shark.
Covered in bubbles
Back in 1983, Connery appeared on The Johnny Carson Show, where he discussed shooting the underwater shark scene in "Never Say Never Again." Connery, often associated with the dapper, charming, and heroic character, admitted he isn't quite as brave as the famous character:
"The underwater stuff, I'm not very good at it, and was very, very nervous about going under... To go down into the interior of the boat, about 50- 60 feet, I was getting through twice as much air as everybody else, and the place was covered in bubbles because I was panicking all the time."
It's nice to know legendary actors like Sean Connery have fears just like the rest of us mere mortals. While it might make us common folk feel better about ourselves, the experience was a rough one for Connery and the crew. As he explained to Carson, Connery's panicked breathing presented a problem for the cameras:
"The guy was trying to explain to me that if I would just breathe somewhat normal, they would be able to film it easier and they could see who it was... even in the film there is a certain note of panic in my eyes, you can see it."
As if the fear of drowning in a dark space wasn't bad enough for the actor, he had to be chased around by a large shark underwater. Poor guy. But, the guy who made James Bond an action hero was bound to do something impressive, and Connery didn't disappoint. He told Carson:
"I kept thinking, 'if there's no more air, where do I go?' I could see the bottom of the other boat that I came from and the guy said to me, 'one thing I have to admit, you're the fastest going up."