Sci-fi thriller "Sunshine" involves a team of scientists on a rescue mission to reignite the sun. The crew — melancholic physicist Robert Capa (Cillian Murphy), uncompromising engineer James Mace (Chris Evans), benevolent botanist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh), courageous captain Kenda (Hiroyuki Sanada), and doctor Searle (Cliff Curtis) — endures numerous disasters that puts their mission at risk.

Due to the film’s central focus on the crew being pulled apart by the enormity of their mission, director Danny Boyle placed his cast in a University of East London dormitory to convincingly develop their group dynamic. Actor Hiroyuki Sanada recalled the tight quarters having only a communal kitchen.

Sanada added, "Every night one of us had to cook for everyone … That rehearsal period helped create the atmosphere that we'd spent a long time in this spaceship together. We created that sense of teamwork already. On-set we just lived and breathed the role as Danny wanted to create the realism of living there as a character."

To demonstrate the kind of claustrophobic suspenseful atmosphere he was going for, Boyle had his cast watch taut classics like “The Wages of Fear,” which also features a small group of characters transporting an explosive payload. Other activities that he hoped would add to the film's authenticity included scuba diving to experience weightlessness and flight simulator training.