LL Cool J Reflects on Iconic Death Scene in Deep Blue Sea

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Actor LL Cool J recently opened up about his experience filming the 1999 shark thriller “Deep Blue Sea,” sharing memories from the set and reflecting on his character’s iconic death scene.

During an interview, LL Cool J, whose character Russell Franklin meets a gruesome fate, described the chaotic filming process, particularly for the storm scenes. “I had no idea I was going to be as wet as I was. I was in water for a month: it was kind of wild,” he said.

The film, directed by Renny Harlin, features intense sequences where massive waves were simulated using water towers that soaked the cast. “For the storm scenes, they were dumping water down on us from towers, like big-ass waves flying everywhere,” LL Cool J recalled.

LL Cool J’s character is famously killed while delivering a motivational speech to his crewmates. Reflecting on his film career, he expressed that this was the type of death scene he had always dreamed of. “I’d always wanted to be killed in a movie by something big that was chasing me,” he noted, adding that he missed out on a similar scene in the film “Jurassic Park” due to a hurricane.

The actor explained that filming “Deep Blue Sea” felt like an adventure. “As a kid, you go to movies, you watch people die, then you play games where you act out death scenes of your own…I’ve had very varied deaths in movies, but everyone remembers this one,” he said.

Interestingly, LL Cool J pointed out that unlike many films where Black characters are often killed early, his character survives until the end of the movie. “Usually in movies like that, all the Black people get killed early, but in Deep Blue Sea, LL Cool J is the last one alive. That felt like a small victory,” he remarked.

The production took place underwater at Baja Studios in Mexico, utilizing water tanks initially built for the film “Titanic.” “We shot it with the water tanks that had been built for Titanic, constructing sets that could be sunk on a hydraulic platform,” LL Cool J explained.

While the movie employs limited CGI, the crew also had the aid of advanced remote-controlled sharks for certain scenes. However, LL Cool J acknowledged the challenges of working with them, saying, “we had to make sure no one got in its way.”

As filming progressed, the crew endured difficult conditions. LL Cool J shared that, “For the first week, everyone would religiously get out of the tank whenever they needed to go to the bathroom. But it’s horrible climbing in and out of a cold wetsuit, and by the second week, people only seemed to leave the pool for lunch. By then, it had become a giant tank of urine.”

Looking forward, LL Cool J mentioned that he is set to work with Harlin again on a new project, although he has not yet received details on a potential sequel involving sharks. “Maybe he’ll bring back the shark that ate me in Deep Blue Sea and have it regurgitate me so I can come back and fight another day,” joked LL Cool J.

The actor’s insights reveal the creative challenges and lively atmosphere of making a film that has become a beloved classic in the horror genre.