13 Actors Who Stayed Underwater for an Impressively Long Duration

      The most prestigious club in Hollywood is accessible solely via the pool. Here are 13 actors who managed to hold their breath underwater for an impressively extended duration.

      **Esther Williams (Million Dollar Mermaid, 1952)**

      Esther Williams in Million Dollar Mermaid. MGM – Credit: C/O

      Esther Williams was a competitive swimmer and actress famous for a series of films beginning in the mid-1940s, showcasing her talent for performing beautifully choreographed routines, often underwater, in movies such as Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Dangerous When Wet (1953).

      While we don’t have the exact duration she could hold her breath, it's evident she pushed her limits, suffering multiple eardrum ruptures during the extensive hours spent in studio tanks.

      She passed away in 2013 at the age of 91.

      **Ricou Browning (Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954)**

      Ginger Stanley and Ricou Browning in Creature From the Black Lagoon. Universal

      Ricou Browning was a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman who began in water shows and later in underwater newsreels. He was cast as Gill-man, aka The Creature From the Black Lagoon, after a film crew invited him to showcase a location and swim on camera. He also starred in the film’s sequels.

      In a 2013 interview with Florida's Ocala StarBanner, Browning revealed that he could hold his breath underwater for up to four minutes but only under ideal circumstances: “If you’re swimming fast or fighting, you deplete a lot of oxygen, reducing it to, at most, two minutes.”

      Browning died in February at the age of 93.

      **Shelly Winters (The Poseidon Adventure, 1972)**

      Shelly Winters in The Poseidon Adventure. 20th Century Fox

      While filming the ensemble disaster epic The Poseidon Adventure, about an aging luxury liner capsized by a tsunami, Shelly Winters reportedly learned to hold her breath underwater for up to four minutes. Her performance earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

      Winters passed away in 2006 at the age of 85.

      **Val Kilmer (Top Secret, 1984)**

      Val Kilmer and Christopher Villiers in Top Secret. Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Top Secret is a surreal blend of a war film and an Elvis movie, featuring Val Kilmer as American singer Nick Rivers, who infiltrates enemy territory and falls for a German woman battling fascism. The film includes remarkable sequences, including a shot filmed in reverse and an underwater fistfight styled after Westerns.

      Directors David Zucker and Jim Abrahams shared with ScreenCrush in 2014 that actors in this scene held their breath in 10 to 15-second spans before surfacing.

      “The toughest part was not laughing and running out of oxygen,” Kilmer said. “I got my [diving] certification for that sequence and still enjoy diving today!”

      **Kurt Russell (Poseidon, 2006)**

      Kurt Russell in Poseidon. Warner Bros. – Credit: C/O

      In the Poseidon Adventure remake, Kurt Russell held his breath underwater long enough that he nearly lost consciousness.

      “There’s a scene where I’m underwater for quite a while, which required trusting someone to come in and give me air at precisely the right moment. That’s a frightening thing,” he shared with The Los Angeles Daily News.

      “I wanted to experience it, but psychologically, it was tough to do . . . letting go and trusting that you won’t drown.”

      He added: “The third time he swam out to me and put the regulator in my mouth, I can’t recall it. I was that close to the edge.”

      **Emmy Rossum (Poseidon, 2006)**

      Emmy Rossum in Poseidon. Warner Bros.

      The future star of Shameless appeared alongside Kurt Russell in Poseidon, playing his character’s daughter. In an interview about the film, when asked what happens if someone flubs a take underwater, she simply replied: No one messes up.

      “When you’re 30 feet underwater, you release your oxygen tank and everyone holds their breath. Or you’re freediving. You just go down after taking a breath up top and hold your breath while swimming for sometimes up to a minute and a half. It’s pretty intense training.”

      **Jessica Alba (Into the Blue, 2005)**

      Jessica Alba and Paul Walker in Into the Blue. MGM – Credit: C/O

      Jessica Alba began freediving during her time on the late '90s series The New Adventures of Flipper and continued her practice in Into the Blue, a heist thriller co-starring the late Paul Walker.

      “Freediving is like an extreme sports version of snorkeling,” she told CBS News in 2005. “That goes