What was the attraction of working with Harrison Ford?

I got paid the same as he did, which was extraordinary! No, I'm only teasing. I've always been a fan of Harrison's, since "American Graffiti". I remember seeing that and thinking, "There's an actor, there's a star in the making." And he's a cool guy.

You're a pretty tall guy - how was it shooting a submarine movie?

I bumped my head a lot. Too many times! For the first few weeks I had marks across my head. And just when I learned where some object was that I kept bumping into, the prop guys would move it somewhere else - so I'd have to re-learn it again. Well, at least in movies you get a chance to repeat and do it over again.

What do you think the movie's really about?

It's a human drama. You care about everybody in this movie, you care about every single character. When you put all that testosterone into a tin can and submerge it 300 metres, there's instant drama. I think these men probably saved the planet given the hostility between the two superpowers at that time.

Why was the K-19 called The Widowmaker? (SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING)

It seems to have been jinxed. Some men died during the construction of it. Six or seven men died during the incident portrayed in this movie. It was then cleaned up and used again, re-launched in 1971, and I believe 19 men died in a fire that broke out in the K-19. So it was genuinely jinxed, it seems.