‘Nyad’: Annette Bening & Jodie Foster on ‘Unconditional Love’ Between Their Real-Life Characters
Preview
It’s called the Mount Everest of swims: 110 brutal miles from Cuba to Florida roiling with deadly box jellyfish and violent storms.
In 2010, at the age of 60, charismatic marathon swimmer turned sports journalist Diana Nyad (Annette Bening), who’d previously attempted the trek in 1978, became obsessed with being the first to conquer it without a shark cage. Her epic four-year journey, accomplished with the support of her best friend and coach, calm Bonnie Stoll (Jodie Foster), is chronicled in the new Netflix drama Nyad, based on Nyad’s memoir Find a Way.
“To me, the heart of the film is the relationship between these two women,” reflected Bening, who, like Foster, spoke about the film before the strike. “She couldn’t have done it without Bonnie.”
“They each have some wounds that the other fills,” added Foster. “It’s a love that’s deeper possibly than any traditional couple, even though they’re platonic. There is such history and unconditional love that’s very rare.” Along for the ride—and also key to the mission—is Rhys Ifans as navigator John Bartlett.
Annette Bening in ‘Nyad’ (Credit: Liz Parkinson/Netflix)
Both Bening and Foster dove deep into research and training and became close to the women they were portraying. Nyad said of Bening, “She showed exemplary endurance. She worked for a year to get ready for this, and it showed.” Bening was coached by Olympic swimmer Rada Owen. While shooting in the Dominican Republic, she sometimes swam five hours a day in both a massive tank and open water.
Nyad completed the 53-hour swim on her fifth try, in 2013, at 64. Bening hopes the film will have ripple effects: “Maybe Diana’s story will make people think to themselves, ‘I’ve been living my life this way, but I actually can do something else if I want to.’ It doesn’t have to be swimming from Cuba to Florida… But the key is giving yourself permission to think about it.”
And if you have a friend at your side, all the better.
Nyad, Original Movie Premiere, Friday, November 3, Netflix
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