Lessons with the Captain

First week of filming was aboard the Cape Rise, A Roll-On/Roll-Off cargo ship specifically designed as part of the Ready Reserve Force, a Maritime Administration program which provides worldwide sealift of supplies like tanks & choppers for the U.S. Military. It’s a massive vessel with multiple decks, huge vehicle lifts & cavernous holding bays that reminded me of the Nostromo in the film Aliens. It looked like a huge factory warehouse floating on water.

After breakfast, introductions, and a conversation about wardrobe, my first task was to spend time up on the bridge with the real Captain of the Cape Rise to get a sense of what a Captain actually does. As I wrote earlier, it seems Captains mostly drink coffee and look out the window, apart from their jobs as Chief Administrators. I wanted to know more about his world and we had conversations about responsibility, Somali Pirates, and procedures.


Captain Gary let me pick his brain pondering how he may react if found in the same situation as Captain Phillips. Remarkably, he made it all sound very routine. Not that being kidnapped was a regular or desirable occurrence, however I got the impression that Piracy was pretty much a business transaction that both sides understood. At least until the Maersk Alabama. The recent Somali Pirate takedown will no doubt drastically change the entire tone. Although Pirates climb on board with guns and the intention of taking over a ship, there was no motivation to kill. It’s about money. These young guys are apparently just young hired hands for minimal pay, deployed from a mother ship run by true Pirate Kings. These little outboard motor craft would never make the 150 - 200 mile journey away from shore.

The Captain said that although it would be a tense situation, they would just want to get these Pirates off the ship as soon as possible and continue with their payload. Clearly, something went very wrong with the Maersk Alabama.

Fire water hoses are commonly used to detract or delay pirates from gaining access to a ship and pressure is certainly strong enough to push a man back. Horrific images come to mind of old news clips; Birmingham 1963, protests, black men and women pounded by white police officers shooting water. Hoses deliver quite a force up close. But, as the Captain pointed out, it’s quite far from the upper deck of a ship down to water level where the pirates would be. The water quickly diminishes into a wet spray that does nothing more than make the pirates rather wet & really pissed off. Plus, what crew member in his right mind would hold the nozzle of a hose over the edge of the railing in full line of sight of an AK-47!?


This conversation left me with the impression that although adrenaline would be pumping, this situation would most likely have been handled calmly and professionally with tempered reactions. People ask why Capt. Phillips got into the lifeboat in the first place? Only he knows that answer, but cooperating would be less dangerous and hopefully get the captors on their way and off his ship faster. The tables turned when a negotiated hostage trade failed. The Pirate leader was returned and they pulled away before returning Captain Phillips.

As an actor, I found it all absolutely fascinating to put these pieces together, all the various theories, all the possible choices. How panicked and fearful would Phillips be? How hard an edge would he have? How calm? When confronted by these young men, how confident would he be that all would be safe? He had a responsibility to his crew, as well as to the shipping company.

I asked the Captain, from a personal perspective, if he is truly aware of the weight on his shoulders of running a machine as huge as a floating skyscraper on it’s side, moving tons of highly valuable, often top secret cargo? What about the lives of his crew and anyone who may cross the path of his ship?


Assuming a shrug and simple “You get used to it”, I was surprised when the Captain made it clear that he is constantly aware of the huge responsibility. Tempered with years of experience and confidence, the Captain then praises the talents of his excellent and extremely capable crew who really to do the “hands on” work.

Further lessons included an introduction to some of the controls on the massive panels in the bridge - how the PA system worked, where the emergency alarm bell is located and operated, which specific emergency sequence to ring, the control for propeller pitch and speed, electrical lights, how to shut down certain equipment alarm signals that would go off.

In the chart room adjacent to the bridge the Captain briefly taught me how to measure out check points on a map using a divider and certain techniques that I could recreate for more legitimate action as a Captain.

Although I had barely scratched the surface and this introduction was minimal, my time with Captain Gary helped give me a sense of comfort and belonging on the bridge of this ship. I could at least now walk into the set with a certain feeling of “ownership” before the Director and I even started to talk about the scenes.