Colin Firth and Matthias Schoenaerts shoot film in Jette

British actor Colin Firth and Flemish actor Matthias Schoenaerts took to a bar in Jette to shoot scenes from the new movie Kursk. The movie by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt, The Commune) tells the story of the Russian nuclear-powered submarine Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea in 2000, with the loss of all 118 crew.

The film crew took over the Excelsior on Rue de l'Eglise Saint-Pierre because of its look, according to a production spokesperson, talking to Bruzz. The Excelsior is an old brown pub, with traditional floor tiles and mementoes from old clients tacked on the walls.

The shoot in the bar featured about 80 extras for a 2.5 minute scene, which took 12 hours to finish. Much of Kursk is being shot in Belgium, including the underwater scenes, which are being produced at the AED film studios in Lint, Antwerp province.

Kursk marks the second Vinterberg film starting Schoenaerts, following 2015’s Far from the Madding Crowd. Kursk is one of four films starring Schoenaerts slated for release in 2018. There’s also the American productions Sound of Metal, in which he plays a drummer losing his hearing, and Red Sparrow, a tale of spies and double agents, as well as the American-French co-production Mustang, in which he plays a dangerous convict who finds rehabilitation training wild horses.