LOS ANGELES (KABC) — In the new film “Young Woman and the Sea,” “Star Wars” actress Daisy Ridley plays Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim across the English Channel.
The feat earned Ederle the largest parade ever held in New York City, but other sports heroes of the era, such as baseball legend Babe Ruth, have been largely forgotten by history, even though they are still well known a century later.
“I don't know a lot about American sports, but I know Babe Ruth!” Ridley told On the Red Carpet. “I was pretty embarrassed reading the script and not knowing[Trudi]. And I think in general there's this feeling of disbelief that her accomplishments have been lost to history.”
Playing Ederle on screen meant months of training for Ridley with real Olympic swimmers, and his swimming technique improved dramatically during filming.
“At my first swim test I tried to swim 20 metres and I stopped halfway through and said 'I can't do this' and I thought 'what have I done?'” Ridley said. “Maybe I lied on my CV.”
For the dramatic swim from France to England that concludes the film, Ridley shot it over nine days in the cold waters of the Black Sea.
“If I hadn't actually been in the water, I don't think I would have felt the impact of what Trudy did,” she said.
Trudy Ederle's success can be attributed in part to the support of her family, including her sister Meg. Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who plays Meg in the film, says it's been special to bring that story of sisterly love to the big screen.
“That was the part in the script that really moved me,” Cobham-Harvey said, “and it's so lovely to be able to celebrate a relationship like this between women, especially as sisters, supporting each other to be the best version of themselves and challenging the world that they've grown up in and what's expected of them, so that part was really moving and it was really fun to explore that on screen together.”
Check out the video above to watch Daisy Ridley and Tilda Cobham-Hervey's full On the Red Carpet interview.
Disney's “The Young Lady and the Sea” opens in select theaters on Friday. It's rated PG.
Disney is the parent company of “On The Red Carpet” and the ABC network.
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