A Howling tough shoot

Australian actor Damian Walshe-Howling is pretty proud of his latest film, The Reef, and so he should be - it nearly cost him his life. Shot in Hervey Bay last year, the film follows a group of people who try to swim to a nearby island after their boat capsizes at sea. To add to the situation, they're being stalked by a Great White Shark. But it wasn't a ferocious, man-eating shark that brought the Underbelly actor so close to his deathbed.
``The most dramatic aspect of the shoot was I stepped on a stonefish which is, like, one of the most poisonous creatures in the ocean and can kill you in less than two hours,'' he said.
``I can talk about it now as this great heroic story, but the whole shoot was shut down and I was rushed to hospital.
``I was talking to a cast member in Los Angeles and she was saying how my eyes were rolling into the back of my head and she thought `oh my God, he's going to die.''

Suffice to say Walshe-Howling lived to fight another day, or shark, and is busy promoting the film ahead of its Australian release date on Thursday, March 17. The Reef is another creature feature from the man behind crocodile thriller Black Water, Andrew Traucki, and the writer/director put his actors through an ``intense'' filming schedule.
``It was an extremely intense shoot,'' Walshe-Howling said.
``We were pretty water-logged and even though we were shooting in warm Queensland, after you're in the water for more that two hours it starts to get really cold.
``And we were in there for hours on end every day.
``Each of us at one point had a mild case of hypothermia.'' The film also stars fellow Underbelly alumni Gyton Grantley, as well as Adrienne Pickering and Zoe Naylor. The low-budget thriller also incorporates real shark footage, filmed by Traucki and his team in Port Lincoln. As a keen surfer, Walshe-Howling said The Reef hasn't put him off the water, but he's certainly more aware of what's lurking underneath.
``I love surfing, but the ocean is their (sharks) domain,'' he said.
``They're one of the most beautiful creatures in the world and one of the oldest creatures in the ocean, but I wouldn't want to be eating lunch with one.
``If you're stepping into that domain you have to realise that's a possibility.
``It would be a horrible way to die though.
``I don't have a phobia of sharks, but sometimes when I'm in the water you just get that feeling where you think you need to get out of the water quickly, that instinct.''

The Reef opens in cinemas on Thursday, March 17.