The first look photos of Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in the drama adaptation of legendary long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad have been released.
‘Nyad’ is an upcoming adaptation of the swimmer’s memoir titled ‘Find a Way’. It tells how Diana Nyad, at the age of 60, persevered to tackle the “Mount Everest” of swimming — a marathon of 110 miles from Cuba to Florida. The swim gives Nyad — who is openly lesbian — the recognition as the first person to complete the feat without a shark cage.
Bening plays Nyad while Foster plays Bonnie Stoll, Nyad’s best friend. Taking the role was not an easy task for Bening, as it required intense preparation and training. At 65, Bening hired Rada Owen, a former Olympic swimmer, to train her and help her portray Nyad as accurately as possible.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, the film’s co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi described Bening as someone who “wouldn’t take the role unless she was prepared to do the work.” She also said that the role of Nyad was “daunting to [Bening]. She knew herself that she would have to learn to swim that way — and she wasn’t necessarily the best swimmer.”
Foster also added that Bening faced what she described as “the hardest challenges”. This included “swimming in the water for hours and hours, stomaching salt water, fluctuating body temperatures, wearing that weird silicone mask, long hours in every weather condition, day and night – and all of it in a bathing suit.” Foster said it’s “her worst nightmare.”
