Classic Obsession Tale 'In the Heart of the Sea' Hooks Audiences

NEW YORK – The story Moby Dick is a classic American tale of obsession. The enduring work of fiction was inspired by real events.

"The Essex" last set sail from Nantucket, Massachusetts, in 1820. That final journey of the whaling ship and its crew remains a gripping story nearly 200 years later.

Hooked on the Story

Director Ron Howard brings that real life story to the big screen in the film "In the Heart of the Sea," which is also the title of Nathaniel Philbrick's award-winning book.

Howard sat down with CBN News' Efrem Graham for a wide-ranging interview about his life in entertainment. Their conversation begins with a look at how Howard discovered this latest script. Click play to watch below.

Howard sat down with CBN News to talk about the film and his lifetime of work in the entertainment industry.

A massive sperm whale struck the Nantucket and split it in half, leaving the crew shipwrecked more than a thousand miles from land.

"Those men had will to live and they also had something else, they expected adversity," Howard told CBN News, attempting to describe that ship's crew. "A life at sea probably meant they were going to be shipwrecked at some point. They were going to suffer."

Actor Chris Hemsworth plays first mate Owen Chase. He actually introduced the story to Howard.

"I was just fascinated by the story. And the moment I found out it was based on true – encapsulated by it," Hemsworth said.

Hemsworth shared more about the new film with CBN's Efrem Graham. Click play to watch.

"It was a terrific script. It was a script that had been around for 10 or 12 years and it was an obvious big movie idea," Howard said. "But a really daunting, challenging one. And I had worked on the water and that is always something to be very respectful of."

"Then I found out it was based on real events so I liked the script," he said. "Then I found it that it was inspired by truth. And then I went back and learned more about the actual story and I liked the way the script had adapted and shaped it into a movie narrative. And then I was really, pardon the pun, I was hooked."

Surviving Filming

In a small way, Hemsworth and the film's cast tasted what it took survive.

"It was pretty tough. In the first four months where we started the film at 3,000 calories [a day] and then dwindled down to about 500 by the end of the shoot," Hemsworth told CBN News.

"That was one of the toughest things I have done, but I think absolutely essential for us to empathize with what these guys went through and give a truthful portrayal of what these guys went through, a truthful portrayal of their experience," he continued. "There was no acting required. We felt exhausted and beat to hell and starving."

"We had a man who had survived for 76 days at sea, a man named Steve Callahan, who had been a technical advisor on 'Life of Pi' who had written a great book called Adrift," Howard told CBN News.

"He came and worked with us as a technical advisor and he also is a great sailor," he continued. "So he helped out and doubled some of the guys in the storm scenes. But Steve, as he began to learn some of the facts of the story, he was stunned that those men had survived."

This is a real-life adventure story. But its Oscar-winning director say it was also an ambitious film.

Focus on the Family's Bob Waliszewski talks about the movie starring  Chris Hemsworth, "In the Heart of the Sea," based on the story behind the classic tale, Moby Dick.

There was also no shortage of faith in a survivor's 90-day journey at sea. It's seen in a moment in the film, where the men pause to give thanks for only a slither of a cracker they shared equally.

"That was inspired by real events in the book and an account and that man, that character wasn't a preacher or a minister, but he was a very devout guy, a very religious man, and he sort of became the spiritual leader," Howard said.