The movie ‘Deepwater Horizon’ that is currently at the top of the box office in theaters, is about the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded in April 2010 and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history. This redemptive film has real-life heroes and heroines who are role models. This movie and the stories behind the scenes have inspirational power.
With a production budget of about $110 million, the ‘Deepwater Horizon’ movie crew built a huge 85%-scale replica of the rig with more than 3 million pounds of steel. Every visual detail of the Deepwater Horizon was re-created. To Josh Rottenberg of the LA Times, Caleb Holloway, who is played in the film by Dylan O’Brien, says, “It was actually a little eerie being on set…It was almost like I wanted to go to work, it was so real. But my main goal was to ensure that everybody knew Shane [Roshto] and Adam [Weise] and Karl [Kleppinger] and the guys that passed away. I wanted the actors to know who they were on a personal level.”
Caleb gives an exclusive interview of his personal story with the Deepwater Horizon disaster to Sonoma Christian Home:
SCH: What was your job on the oil rig?
CH: I was a floorhand who, with my co-workers, managed drilling equipment on the drill floor.
Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) and Felicia Williams (Kate Hudson) in ‘Deepwater Horizon.’ Photo Credit: David Lee
SCH: What were the first signs of trouble to you and your team?
CH: We were in a final testing phase. Our rig drills and gets ready for another rig to bring up the oil. I worked with four hands. I had the radio. We getting ready for the next crew and were soon to get off the tower. We received a radio message that we were to check the pop-off valve. Adam was the nicest guy and said he would do it. Adam went to the driller shack in my place and ended up losing his life. He went and said there was a problem.
Caleb Holloway, real-life survivor. Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate
SCH: What happened when you and close co-workers understood that you were in a crisis?
CH: I was training Dan. We were cleaning floors with the vacuum ready. I had gone down a floor to line up the vacuum to take up the mud from the rig floor. I went back up and that was when the blowout happened from where the drill goes down. Huge equipment was blown up. The radio broke. We could not follow emergency training protocol. I grabbed Dan into the heavy drill room. I tried to get to the drill shack. There was mud first, then gas, then the explosion. I tried a phone and felt enveloped with gas, sea water, mud.
Kurt Russell in ‘Deepwater Horizon’. Photo Credit: David Lee
SCH: How did you and your co-workers respond?
CH: I took Dan to the evacuation deck, but no one was there yet. The engines starting revving due to lack of oxygen. The lights went off. We were in total darkness. I had a flashlight. We got knocked around. I was able to get Dan into the number one life boat. At that time I expected no survivors. I went to the main living quarters. Nothing was recognizable. Others starting coming to the evacuation deck at same time. It was nothing like emergency drills. It was chaos. Some jumped overboard. I was able to help bring out bring out three critically injured. The lifeboats were deployed.
SCH: Did the responses of other crew members save lives?
CH: Yes, we were blessed to only lose 11.
SCH: Did you sense the presence and grace of God?
CH: It was by God’s grace that the water was amazingly calm that night. It was by God’s grace that the supply vessel was on hand to help. My friend fell into the water that in some places had burning oil on top. He broke his leg in the fall, but when I found him with my flashlight, by God’s grace he was okay. I had in my hard hat the words to “How Great Thou Art.” I had shared the story of those words in my hat with Adam before the disaster. Those words were sung at his memorial service.
Mark Wahlberg in ‘Deepwater Horizon.’ Photo Credit: Enrique Chediak
SCH: Have you experienced PTSD since the event?
CH: I spent the first year in counseling. It is hard to talk about. It has been hard to accept. It has taken a toll on me physically and mentally. But after a year, my faith in God has helped me to accept what happened. I had mixed emotions about helping with the movie, but I wanted to honor those who were lost. Dan and I were the only ones who survived of our team.
SCH: Do you think the movie’s dramatization of what happened is realistic?
CH: Yes, the movie is realistic. It was chaotic. It depicts responses accurately. Many from that experience deserve recognition.
SCH: How are you doing now?
CH: I still have a hard time talking about it, but I’m doing well now. I am a firefighter and have been able to rescue people from burning cars and homes. I have a wonderful family with two precious boys that God gave to my wife and me at the perfect time. I am on a journey of finding meaning in what happened. I want others to know that Jesus Christ is our hope and foundation.
SCH: What has helped your recovery?
CH: Counseling, Christian friends, Bible study have all helped.
The Deepwater Horizon tragedy picturizes the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Producer and actor, Mark Wahlberg says, “It has those elements of a disaster movie but it’s a true story…you have to make it as realistic as possible. I loved the studio’s courage to make a character-driven adult action movie where there’s no chance for a sequel.” To Holloway and the other 114 men and women who experienced the catastrophe 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana, the film is personal and a way to honor their fallen co-workers.
For 87 days after the explosion, millions of barrels of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, causing widespread and lasting harm to wildlife, as well as to the tourist and fishing industries from Texas to Florida. This disaster was followed by an intense government investigation, litigation and political debate. BP was found primarily responsible for the spill and has billions of dollars in penalties and settlements, as well as billions in cleanup costs.
Director Peter Berg says, that the focus of the movie is on the human story in the heart of the catastrophe. “To this day, when people think of Deepwater Horizon, they only think of an oil spill — they think of an oil spill and dead pelicans,” tells Berg. “Obviously that oil spill was horrific…But the reality is 11 men died on that rig and these men were just doing their jobs, and many of them worked hard trying to prevent that oil from blowing out and it was certainly not their fault. As it pertains to the families of those men who lost their lives, I want them to feel as though another side of that story was presented, so that whenever someone talks about the Deepwater Horizon or offshore oil drilling, people don’t automatically go to ‘oil spills.’ ” Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura says, “It’s not an anti-oil movie. It’s not a pro-oil movie. It’s what happened that day.”
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