12 Actors Who Sustained Their Breath Underwater for an Unusually Long Duration

      Here are 13 actors known for holding their breath underwater for impressively lengthy durations, as the most exclusive club in Hollywood can only be accessed through the pool.

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

      Esther Williams starred in MGM's Million Dollar Mermaid.

      A competitive swimmer and talented actress, Esther Williams charmed audiences with films from the mid-1940s that showcased her ability to perform beautifully choreographed underwater routines in movies like Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Dangerous When Wet (1953). While the exact duration she could hold her breath remains unknown, she frequently tested her limits, enduring repeated eardrum ruptures due to the extensive time 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.

      A multi-talented figure, Ricou Browning was a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman. He began his career in water shows and underwater newsreels and landed the role of Gill-man, the Creature From the Black Lagoon, after a film crew requested his expertise in a location shoot. He would go on to appear in the film's sequels as well. In a 2013 interview with Florida’s Ocala StarBanner, Browning claimed he could hold his breath for up to four minutes in ideal conditions, but that fast swimming or fighting would reduce it to a maximum of two minutes. He passed away in February at the age of 93.

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

      Shelly Winters in The Poseidon Adventure.

      While starring in The Poseidon Adventure, an ensemble cast disaster film about an overturned luxury liner, 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 died in 2006 at the age of 85.

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

      Val Kilmer and Christopher Villiers in Top Secret.

      Top Secret is a surreal mix of a war movie and an Elvis film, featuring Val Kilmer as American singer Nick Rivers who infiltrates enemy lines and develops a romance with a German woman resisting fascism. The film includes various clever sequences, including an underwater fistfight. Directors David Zucker and Jim Abrahams confirmed in a 2014 interview with ScreenCrush that the actors in that underwater scene held their breath in 10 to 15 second intervals. Kilmer remarked, “The hardest part was not laughing and running out of oxygen,” adding that he received a diving certificate for that scene and continues to enjoy diving today.

      **Kurt Russell (Poseidon, 2006)**

      Kurt Russell in Poseidon.

      Kurt Russell mentioned that during the remake of The Poseidon Adventure, he held his breath underwater for so long he nearly lost consciousness. He described a scene where he had to trust a co-worker to give him air at just the right moment, admitting it was a frightening experience. He said, “I wanted to see what the experience was like, but, psychologically, that’s hard to do… letting go and trusting that you won’t drown.” He recalled, “The third time, when the guy swam out and put the regulator in my mouth, I don’t remember it. I was that close to the edge.”

      **Emmy Rossum (Poseidon, 2006)**

      Emmy Rossum in Poseidon.

      In Poseidon, Emmy Rossum played the daughter of Kurt Russell's character. In an interview about the film, she noted that if a take under water went wrong, nobody messed up since everyone would just hold their breath. She explained, “When you’re 30 feet underwater, you let go of your oxygen tank, and everyone holds their breath, or you’re freediving. You just descend, having taken a breath up top, and hold your breath for sometimes up to a minute and a half, swimming. So it’s pretty intense training that goes into that.”

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

      Jessica Alba and Paul Walker in Into the Blue.

      Jessica Alba began free diving while working on the late 1990s TV series The New Adventures of Flipper and applied her experience in the heist thriller Into the Blue, co-starring with the late Paul Walker. She described free diving as “an extreme sports version of snorkeling,” explaining the process of descending quickly while holding one’s breath for several minutes. Alba mentioned competing with her fellow actors, stating, “I think I had the longest breath-hold. It was like one minute 20 seconds.”

      **Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, 2015)**

      Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.