Have you ever left something unfinished? At the age of 60, Diana Nyad felt that she had — 32 years prior, she’d begun an attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida, a 110-mile marathon. Due to strong winds, Nyad was forced to abandon her attempt. That wasn’t the end of the story, however; in 2010, Nyad began to train for the swim once more. The epic story of that swim is told in the new film NYAD, starring four-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening as Diana Nyad and Oscar winner Jodie Foster as her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll. You can watch a conversation between the actors and the real people they portray above.
“Nyad wasn’t willing to accept that the world was done with her,” co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi tells Tudum. “She had this audacious vision and put in the real work with her whole team to make this Cuba to Key West swim happen.”
Learn more about the NYAD below.
A remarkable true story of tenacity, friendship, and the triumph of the human spirit, NYAD recounts a riveting chapter in the life of world-class athlete Diana Nyad. Three decades after giving up marathon swimming in exchange for a prominent career as a sports journalist, at the age of 60, Diana (four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening) becomes obsessed with completing an epic swim that always eluded her: the 110-mile trek from Cuba to Florida, referred to as the “Mount Everest” of swims. Determined to become the first person to finish the swim without a shark cage, Diana goes on a thrilling four-year journey with her best friend and coach Bonnie Stoll (two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster) and a dedicated sailing team.
The inspirational and thrilling film marks the narrative directorial debut of Academy Award–winning documentary filmmakers Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo, The Rescue). NYAD is produced by Andrew Lazar and Teddy Schwarzman with a screenplay by Julia Cox, adapted from the memoir Find a Way by Diana Nyad.
“We love stories that allow you to explore the human spirit and human potential,” co-director Chin says. “And NYAD really captures both of those pieces for us.”
Annette Bening plays Diana Nyad, Jodie Foster plays Nyad’s friend and coach Bonnie Stoll, and Rhys Ifans plays John Bartlett, the captain of the boat that accompanied Nyad on her swim.
“Annette is amazing,” Chin says. “She was often in the tank for hours at a time because she wanted to swim and wanted it to be authentic. The stunt team was blown away.”
“It was really important that we could find someone to do the work and do the training and it was very much a dialogue between us before [Annette] accepted the role,” Vasarhelyi adds. “We were able to sit at the table and really have conversations about the character and the training. When she did that first stroke on camera, you could feel the excitement of the crew.”
Yes. At the 96th Academy Awards, NYAD’s leading ladies were both honored. Both actors picked up their fifth competitive Oscar nominations: Annette Bening for Best Actress, and Jodie Foster for Best Supporting Actress.
At the 81st Golden Globe Awards, NYAD picked up two nominations. Bening was nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama, and Foster was nominated for Best Supporting Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture.
Bening and Foster were also nominated at the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards — Bening for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and Foster for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
NYAD is now streaming on Netflix.
