12 Actors Who Stayed Underwater for an Extended Period

      Here are 12 actors known for holding their breath underwater for an extraordinarily long time.

      Esther Williams (Million Dollar Mermaid, 1952)

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

      Esther Williams, a competitive swimmer and actress, gained fame for a series of films starting in the mid-1940s that showcased her talent for beautifully choreographed underwater performances, particularly in films like Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) and Dangerous When Wet (1953).

      While the exact duration of her breath-holding ability remains unknown, it was evident that she tested her limits, often rupturing her eardrum from the extended hours spent in studio tanks.

      She passed away in 2013 at the age of 91.

      Ricou Browning (Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954)

      Credit: C/O

      Ricou Browning was a director, actor, producer, screenwriter, underwater cinematographer, and stuntman who began his career in water shows and underwater newsreels. He was cast as Gill-man, aka The Creature From the Black Lagoon, after a film crew requested his assistance around a location and asked him to swim for the camera. He also reprised his role in the film's sequels.

      In a 2013 interview with Florida's Ocala StarBanner, Browning mentioned that he could hold his breath underwater for up to four minutes, but only in ideal conditions: “If you’re swimming quickly or fighting, you use a lot of oxygen, which reduces it to, at most, two minutes.”

      Browning passed away in 2023 at the age of 93.

      Shelly Winters (The Poseidon Adventure, 1972)

      Credit: C/O

      Reportedly, Shelly Winters learned to hold her breath for up to four minutes while filming the ensemble disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, which tells the story of an aging luxury liner capsized by a tsunami.

      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)

      Iceman is dangerous – Credit: C/O

      Top Secret is an absurdist 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 fighting against fascists. The film includes remarkable scenes, such as a sequence filmed in reverse and an underwater fistfight styled after Westerns.

      Directors David Zucker and Jim Abrahams revealed to ScreenCrush in 2014 that the actors in the underwater scene held their breath in 10 to 15 second intervals before surfacing for air.

      “The hardest part was resisting laughter and managing oxygen levels,” Kilmer commented. “I earned my [diving] certificate for that sequence and still enjoy diving today!”

      The actor passed away in 2025, leaving behind a legacy of classic films, including Top Secret, one of the funniest comedies we've ever seen.

      Kurt Russell (Poseidon, 2006)

      Credit: C/O

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

      “There’s a scene where I’m underwater for a long duration, requiring me to rely on someone to give me air at precisely the right time. That’s quite nerve-wracking,” he told The Los Angeles Daily News.

      “I wanted to experience it, but it was psychologically challenging to let go and trust that I wouldn’t drown.”

      Russell noted: “The third time the person swam out and placed the regulator in my mouth, I don’t recall it. I was very close to the limit.”

      Jessica Alba (Into the Blue, 2005)

      Jessica Alba and Paul Walker hold their breath underwater in Into the Blue – Credit: C/O

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

      “Free diving is akin to an extreme sports variant of snorkeling,” she explained to CBS News in 2005. “You go down about 50 feet, holding your breath while wearing a weight belt, and you attempt to stay down as long as possible.”

      Alba mentioned competing with her fellow cast members for breath-holding duration: “I think I had the longest hold at about one minute and 20 seconds,” she stated.

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

      Tom Cruise holds his breath in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation – Credit: C/O

      In a video for Access Hollywood promoting Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Tom Cruise remarked that “typically in underwater scenes, actors hold their breath for a maximum of 10 to 15 seconds.”

      However, he learned to hold his breath for six minutes for a scene where his