Posted in: Exclusive, Interview, Movies | Tagged: Dangerous Waters, Eric Dane, exclusive, interview, John Barr, Odeya Rush, ray liotta, Signature Films

Dangerous Waters Dir. John Barr on Odeyah Rush Thriller & Ray Liotta

Director John Barr (Blood and Money) talks to Bleeding Cool about his thriller Dangerous Waters, Odeya Rush, and the late Ray Liotta.

John Barr spent 25 years working behind the scenes as a jack-of-all-trades with lighting, gaffing, and cinematography. In 2020, he directed his first feature in the Screen Media thriller Blood and Money, which starred Tom Berenger. His latest is the nautical thriller Dangerous Waters, where he pulls double duty as director and cinematographer. The film follows a teenage daughter (Odeya Rush) who gets more than she bargained for in a sailing holiday gone awry when she discovers the dark past of her mother's new boyfriend. Barr spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with Mark Jackson on the screenplay, casting, coping with the sudden death of star Ray Liotta, and the lessons he took with him since filming Blood and Money.

The Long Arduous Journey of 'Dangerous Waters'

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Dangerous Waters'?
Barr: 'Dangerous Waters' comes from a script I wrote a few years ago that took place in South Africa and a few African countries. It's the same premise: a sailing story that goes sideways, and then COVID hits. I had to devise a different take to do it on a smaller scale, with fewer actors and locations, or more remote locations to maintain that bubble everybody had to exist in during COVID. As far as inspiration goes, I have an incredibly adventurous spirit. A lot of these situations that the character Rose (Odeya Rush) encounters are things that I've always imagined oddly being. It's a self-inspiration, and it evolved into developing the Rose character, who is a great one.

What part did Mark play in the screenplay creative process?
[Mark] was huge. I came up with the idea of wanting to make the script what it is now. We camped out for a bunch of weeks together, and we brainstormed the outline, what it was going to be, and how it was going to unfold. He took the helm and wrote it for me. He was a huge asset. We're friends like he shot a film he directed a few years ago. We became close during that, and we maintained our friendship. He's a talented writer, I'm lucky to know.

Can you break down the casting process and how everything came together?
It's interesting because the Rose character is the film's lead, and she's in every scene, but the film industry is a fickle business. Casting the Rose character isn't necessarily going to take care of the financing to get the film made. We needed an Eric Dane and a Ray Liotta to fill out the cast to get the financing together. When we originally conceived this, Odeya Rush was the actress we wanted. People's schedules change, and if we can't lock in dates, we can't secure talent. She was first on the list, and then she became unavailable. We went to a couple of different actresses. They were attached, but we had trouble securing the other two leads. Almost a year later, [things came] full circle, and Odeya became available again. Eric liked the script, and then we sent it to Ray; you never know how long it will take somebody at that level to see like I imagined it would. It would normally take four to six weeks to get an answer, but he responded literally in two days, and he agreed to come aboard, which is amazing. That fast-tracked us into getting the film made. It was February [2022] when he signed on, and we were shooting a few months later.

What did production wrap?
End of May 2022.

How did Ray's passing [in May 2022] affect production?
It affected it on every level. It was the final week of shooting, and it was incredibly tragic; he had his fiancée there. Everything stopped, and everything became about taking care of his family and ensuring that everybody was safe and protected and we could help facilitate whatever they needed. Once that was figured out, we went back. I spoke to a few visual effects companies in Los Angeles, like Industrial Light & Magic and Parliament, about pursuing face replacements on the stunt double. We had nothing to lose at that point, so we shot all of Ray's remaining scenes with his stunt double with the hopes of attempting to get his face put on so we could finish the movie. The technology wasn't there for that, unfortunately. I rewrote the ending, and we could push it to Signature Films, who financed it. They were on board quickly, and we went back and reshot the ending.

What was Ray like on set?
He's incredible. What you see is what you get, even in interviews with him. The first night of shooting, we were hanging out in his trailer, and I was super nervous going, which never went away. If you're good at what you do, you're always nervous about wanting to be the best you can possibly be. It was an amazing experience, and he's a kind and generous man. You can tell that in the scene with Odeyah because he felt it made her feel incredibly comfortable so she could deliver the performance in the moment. She can stand toe to toe with him in such an intense scene.

Is there a sequence that stood out that was more difficult than others?
There were a lot of them. Every day, we had a small budget. We had a limited time to shoot on the water. I'm sure you've heard everybody here how difficult it is, and it was indeed tough. All the water stuff was challenging. The scene where Alma (Saffron Burrows) goes overboard took a lot of time. Shooting on water, in general, is always an incredible challenge.

Since this is your second feature as a director, what were some of the invaluable lessons you learned since 'Blood and Money'?
I choose these types of scenarios to shoot. I love to put myself out there and challenge myself. You're always, like, walking that tightrope of success. Fortunately, we haven't had too much failure on the production side of things, which is amazing. The most important thing I learned from the first film is creating a family that you work with and you trust will always be around you, knock on wood. I hope to do several more films with the same people, crew-wise, that I had in my first because it gets progressively easier, and you get to know each other well. That is one of the most important things.

Dangerous Waters is available in theaters and on demand.

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