In the Heart of the Sea -Winter 2015
by: John Stanton
photography by: Jim Powers
Oscar-winner Ron Howard wasn’t the first director to try to bring Nat Philbrick’s National Book Award-winning “In the Heart of the Sea” from the page to the big screen. But he was the only one to succeed.
Howard’s telling of the story of the ill-fated Nantucket whaleship Essex – stove by a whale in the Pacific Ocean, on the other side of the known world in 1820 – is due in cinemas in early December.
Chris Hemsworth, who plays first mate Owen Chase, on the set of “In the Heart of the Sea.”
Philbrick and Howard, both wonderful storytellers, talked with John Stanton about the challenges and joys of bringing this Nantucket epic to life.
Nat Philbrick sat at a small table in the Nantucket Whaling Museum, politely waiting and sometimes adding a comment or two, while Ron Howard answered questions at a press conference about his film “In the Heart of the Sea.”
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