Director Ron Howard had previously collaborated with Chris Hemsworth in Rush, which was nominated for two Golden Globes in 2014. When the actor brought him the script for In the Heart of the Sea, Howard loved the story and “saw the opportunity for a great filmmaking adventure”. The crew decamped to the Canary island of La Gomera and set to filming what Howard calls the “origin story of Moby Dick”. The tale begins in Nantucket, which in the early 1800s was the whaling center of the world. Here first mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth) sets sail on the whaling ship Essex led by novice helmer Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker). The relationship between the two men is uneasy, but friction amongst the crew soon takes a back seat to a fateful encounter with a giant white Sperm Whale, which will lead to an amazing journey. The HFPA’s Michele Manelis and Paz Mata spoke to Hemsworth and Howard.

Luca Celada