Oh to be a jelly-fish Swimming in the sea;
At least I'd get to "kiss" you
How happy I would be
I'd much rather be your girlfriend
I guess I'll join the queue
Oh Leo I'd do anything
Just to be with you.

"When the flowers cease to bloom,
I drink in the brilliance of the sun!
...And whenthe sky darkens....
I revel in the sound of the birds....
And when the silence and darkness comes...
I marvel at the truthand beauty found in it"

Mike Valentine (underwater photographer) talking about The Beach production.

It's a rare thing to catch Mike Valentine on dry land. He has only recently returned from filming The Beach (the film adaptation of Alex Garland's best-selling novel) in Thailand and is currently juggling Bond, Nicole Kidman's Ben Kingsley movie.... --He met his wife Francoise, now his trusted unit nurse and production manager. She was a driving pupil of his- they've been together for 18 years and married for 13.
While we are on the subject of paradise island and lovemaking ( Mike beforehand was talking about his romantic scenes with other actors and actresses, Mike says he shot a stunnig love scene for The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio and his screen inamorata Virginie Ledoyen in a passionte embrace on the beach at night......" surrounded by the most incredible phosphorescence....that will be one of the most beautiful scenes in the film. "Mike began his working relationship with The Beach director Danny Boyle on Trainspotting in which he shot the now famous Ewan McGregor - diving-into-the-most-disgusting-loo-in-Scotland - scene.
Francois handy combination of first aid now-how, underwater, also came in mighty useful on The Beach when DiCaprio cut his foot wrestling with an animatronic shark.(Just his luck!) "Any other actor would have gone off screaming to their Winnebago a standard issue film star caravan and we would have never seen them again", Mikes says. "But Francois dressed his foot, sat and talked with him and persuaded him to do one more take."
During the making of The beach, Mike and Francois spent two months in Thailand, working 17 to 18 hour days, six days a week.
"We had to overcome a huge problem with Jellyfish stinging everyone. Leo (Again Just his Luck!) got stung badly and, unfortunately, he had to reshoot one sequence five more times, each time knowing that he was going to get stung all over again."


Then Mike smiles because he knows that for all the jellyfish and A-list tantrums there are moments such as the one he and Francoise shared with DiCaprio one afternoon, just off an island in Thailand that made it all worth it. Shooting for The Beach had all finished for the day and DiCaprio "unwound like a big spring", larking about "Like an ordinary boy on holiday" jumping off the side of the boat and asking Francoise (his wife) to take his picture. Mike filmed him just for fun, as he dived in, swam through a cloud of bubbles and gave two sturdy V signs for victory. "That scene's in the film now," Mike beams!