Yorkshire Evening Post - Film Was Moving Role for Young Alex (2007)
Yorkshire Evening Post
17th December 2007
By Press Association
British stars from The Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep attended its Los Angeles premiere.
Young actor Alex Etel plays the lead in the film, about a lonely boy who discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend.
The 13-year-old said it was a big decision to up sticks for the shoot.
He explained: "I went to see the producers and they said 'how would you feel filming in New Zealand and would you be OK leaving your friends and family?'"
He added: "The last question they asked was 'can you swim?' which they should have asked at the start!"
Alex then had some fast learning to do. "I wasn't that strong a swimmer at the start but when I got there the head stuntman taught me to swim."
Ben Chaplin, who found fame in BBC Two's Game On, also stars, and says acting has its perks.
"I've done two movies in Australia, it's great. You get flown out there and you pick up lots of air miles and New Zealand's amazing, it's beautiful," he said.
Special effects were handled by New Zealand giants Weta Digital, and Ben said it often meant working with a green screen.
"It feels very silly but you have to take yourself back to a time when you truly believed."
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