‘Deepwater Horizon’ Brings Kate Hudson And Kurt Russell Together [Video]

Deepwater Horizon deftly combines the elements of an action film with the suspense of a thriller in telling the true story of of the Gulf Coast oil rig of the same name, which caught fire on April 20, 2010. The real life incident resulted in the worst man-made environmental disaster in history. Deepwater Horizon premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Kate Hudson and her stepfather, Kurt Russell, walked the red carpet together. Hudson opens up about making Deepwater Horizon and about acting with Russell for the first time in her career.

Deepwater Horizon Reveals The Heroes Behind The True Story

The oil spill resulting from the incident occurring aboard the Deepwater Horizon was one of the worst ecological disasters to ever have happened, so it seems understandable that the marketing for the film should also come under fire. After all, as Yahoo Movies reports, director Peter Berg is promoting the oil rig workers as heroes in his film and that just seems like too much too soon for some.

Berg, on the other hand, suggests criticism should not be laid at the feet of those Deepwater Horizon workers, especially in consideration of the 11 men who gave their lives in fighting the blaze and trying to prevent the spill.

“It’s such ignorance,” Berg (Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights) said at the TIFF premiere. “People don’t understand that these guys who died were just doing their jobs. And all these armchair quarterbacks, I promise you, they use gasoline.”

Berg may have a point in bringing to our attention that every single critic uses the oil harvested from these rigs in one way or another. Oil drives our economy and contributes to daily living in more ways than most people realize. The men aboard the Deepwater Horizon were just men trying to do their jobs and support their families, says the film’s director. Berg says those workers deserve to be recognized as heroes and not as villains.

In gaining an interest in making Deepwater Horizon, Berg cites a 60 Minutes interview in which the real Mike Williams describes the events leading up to the spill. The director says he was touched by the oil rig worker’s story and felt compelled to bring the truth to a wider audience.

“I thought it was going to be more on the oil spill, but it wasn’t, it was about the 14 hours that lead up to the blow-out,” Berg remembered. “It told a completely different story.”

Kate Hudson On Finally Getting To Work With Kurt Russell

In speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Kate Hudson recalls growing up in Kurt Russell’s shadow and admiring his work ethic and the high level of professionalism he brought to the set of every film. Hudson says she always admired Kurt and allowed him to influence her, as far as the kind of actor she wanted to be, when she was old enough to follow in his footsteps.

Deepwater Horizon is unique for bringing Kate and Kurt together, but she reveals that the film also allowed her to see Russell and another favorite actor, Mark Wahlberg, work together.

“I got to see Mark [Wahlberg] and my pa, Kurt, together,” Hudson said. “I’m biased obviously — it’s my dad — but I just thought, ‘What a great combination they are!'”

Kate plays the wife of Mike Williams (Wahlberg) in Deepwater Horizon, giving the story a humanized slant by showing how the oil spill impacted the workers and their families.

Deepwater Horizon was filmed on location in Chalmette, Louisiana, where an oil rig was constructed specifically for the filming of this story.

Deepwater Horizon, starring Dylan O’Brien, Mark Wahlberg, and Kate Hudson, hits theaters on September 30.

[Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Brilliant Consulting]