For a movie with very little critical appreciation, Sharktopus has quite an impressive pedigree. While it may not have been hailed by the high-falutin' literati, it's got a lot to love! Sharktopus is, after all, a movie about a government-engineered shark/octopus hybrid. What's not to love? It might not be Citizen Kane, but you're not going to have friends over on a Saturday night to watch ol' Orson show you what Rosebud was, are you?

On paper, Sharktopus has two things (besides it's premise) that might attract some attention. First, there's the production credit of Hollywood legend Roger Corman. Corman, of course, was a long-time B-movie schlockmeister who claims to have never lost a penny on his seemingly thousands of movies. He famously launched the careers of Jack Nicholson, Joe Dante, and James Cameron, just to name a few. This is the guy who first let Ron Howard step behind the camera in a big way. That's nearly as impressive as having tentacles and sharp teeth, right?

You also have the presence of big-screen mainstay Eric Roberts. Yes, he's Julia Roberts' brother. Sure, he's Emma Roberts' dad. But most importantly, the guy's been in over 700 movies. In 2017 alone, he was in 74 flicks. If you turn on a movie— any movie— there's a statistical likelihood that Eric Roberts is in it... Especially if it was produced for very little money. 

Anyway, that's all pretty cool for viewers, but even cooler for anyone on the set of Sharktopus. There are some big names attached to this... midsized monster movie! So, what was it like for one of the film's lead actors? We'll let star Kerem Bürsin paint the picture, as he did in an interview for Screen Anarchy:

"[...I ended up reading for both Julie and Roger Corman. I guess an anecdote would be my audition, during which I froze. Not a little stutter, but a full stop, where I had to start all over again. Roger should probably be on the World Poker Tour because he was absolutely unreadable. Julie was really nice and told me to start over again, and so I did, and that was that. I left feeling miserable, thinking I had this amazing opportunity that I completely botched. A few days later, I got a call from my friend at ICM saying I got the role; I think he was just as surprised as I was. It was one of those moments in time where you'll always remember it like it was yesterday. Then, before I knew it, I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Both Julie and Roger were there for a couple of days, and they were great. I really can't stress that enough."

They were really great! He really can't stress it enough! But... What about Eric Roberts?

"Working with Eric was a blast! He's a ton of fun on set and a very generous actor. I was lucky to have worked with an awesome group of people because everyone was just looking to help one another out. I won't lie, having this be my first actual film, I was anxious as hell when I heard that Eric Roberts would be in this movie. You think of movies like Runaway Train, Pope of Greenwich Village, and even The Dark Knight (which I've easily seen a thousand times), and was nervous until the first time I actually met him. I didn't know what he'd be like to work with or any of that. I never had experience working with someone at his caliber, you know? But he turned out to be a great guy and I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with him."

It seems like the big names on set stayed humble and allowed for the titular Sharktopus to reign supreme over the production. Serve, Queen!