12 Actors Who Stayed Underwater for an Extended Period of Time

      These 13 actors managed to hold their breath underwater for an astonishingly long duration.

      They demonstrate that Hollywood’s most exclusive club is found beneath the waves.

      Let’s begin.

      Esther Williams (Million Dollar Mermaid, 1952)

      A publicity still of Esther Williams from Ziegfield Follies. – Credit: C/O

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

      While we aren’t sure of the exact duration she could hold her breath, she certainly pushed her limits: she frequently ruptured an eardrum from 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)

      Universal – Credit: C/O

      The director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman began his career in water shows and later in underwater newsreels. He was given the role of Gill-man, also known as The Creature From the Black Lagoon, after a film crew requested his guidance around a location and asked him to swim for the 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 conditions: “If you’re swimming quickly or fighting, you consume a lot of oxygen, which limits it to, at most, two minutes.”

      He died in February at the age of 93.

      Shelly Winters (The Poseidon Adventure, 1972)

      20th Century Fox – Credit: C/O

      Shelly Winters is reported to have learned to hold her breath for up to four minutes while filming the ensemble disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure, which revolves around an aging luxury ship capsized by a tsunami. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

      Winters died in 2006 at the age of 85.

      Val Kilmer (Top Secret, 1984)

      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 in love with a German woman resisting fascism.

      The film is filled with various clever sequences, including a shot filmed in reverse and one where a station pulls away from a train, culminating in an underwater fistfight reminiscent of Westerns.

      Directors David Zucker and Jim Abrahams shared with ScreenCrush in 2014 that the actors in that scene held their breath underwater in intervals of 10 to 15 seconds before surfacing.

      “The toughest part was trying not to laugh and avoiding running out of oxygen,” remarked Kilmer, who unfortunately passed away earlier this year.

      Kurt Russell (Poseidon, 2006)

      Warner Bros. – Credit: C/O

      How long did Kurt Russell hold his breath while shooting this remake of Poseidon Adventure? Long enough that he nearly lost consciousness.

      “There’s a scene where I’m underwater for a long time, which meant I had to trust someone to come in and give me air at just the right moment. That’s unsettling,” he expressed to The Los Angeles Daily News.

      “I wanted to experience it, but psychologically, that’s difficult — letting go and trusting that you won’t drown.”

      Russell added: “The third time, when the guy swam out and gave me the regulator, I don’t remember it. I was that close to the limit.”

      Jessica Alba (Into the Blue, 2005)

      Jessica Alba and Paul Walker holding their breath in Into the Blue. Sony – Credit: C/O

      Jessica Alba began free diving while working on the late ’90s TV series The New Adventures of Flipper, and brought that experience to her role in Into the Blue, a heist thriller co-starring the late Paul Walker.

      “Free diving is like an extreme sports version of snorkeling,” she shared with CBS News in 2005. “You go about 50 feet deep, and you hold your breath while wearing a weight belt, descending as quickly as possible and holding your breath for several minutes.”

      Alba mentioned that she and her fellow actors would compete: “I believe I had the longest time — like one minute and 20 seconds,” she said.

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

      Tom Cruise holding his breath in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. Paramount – Credit: C/O

      Tom Cruise explained in an Access Hollywood video released alongside Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation that “typically, in underwater scenes, people can hold their breath for 10 to 15 seconds at