The director of an inspirational new movie starring Daisy Ridley has opened up about the star’s intense training regime that had her “lips turning blue.”
While fans might recognize Ridley as Rey in theStar Warssequel movie trilogy, the actress has appeared in a number of titles since then, her latest being Young Woman and the Sea.
Based on Glenn Stout’s 2009 book of the same name, the Disney biopic centers on the true story of Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle, an athlete who became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.
Ridley takes on the lead role in thenew movie, with her swimming scenes filmed in actual open waters in the Black Sea (yo ho… if you know, you know).
Dexerto caught up withYoung Woman and the Seadirector Joachim Ronning, who discussed Ridley’s intense preparation for the film. “I knew that this was gonna be a very physical role. I was very clear on that,” he told us.
“I wanted to film out on the ocean, andDaisy Ridleysaid, ‘Yeah, absolutely. Let’s honor Trudy as real as we can.’ And she didn’t tell me this beforehand, but she’s actually scared of open water swimming — that I learned later.
“What she did was she trained for months and months in open water swimming. And so, when we got out there, she was just amazing to work with. She was in 15-16 degrees water, her lips were turning blue.
“I felt so lucky to be doing this with her. Obviously I’m on the boat in a jacket and I’m seeing her in the water without a wetsuit because she’s in a bikini. Basically, she just got on with it — there were the currents and the weather and the elements and the propellers everywhere.
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“It was stressful, but I hope in some way that the audience can feel that we did make it as real as we could.”
Daisy Phillipson is a Senior TV and Movies Writer on Dexerto’s UK Team. She’s a lover of horror, crime, psychological thrillers. After graduating with a Masters in Magazine Journalism, she’s gone on to write for Digital Spy, LADbible and Little White Lies. You can contact her at daisy.phillipson@dexerto.com
