Disney

Actress Daisy Ridley braves the waves in the new Disney film Young Woman and the Sea. She plays Trudy Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, and tells ABC Audio Ederle was a remarkable woman with a story that’s sadly been forgotten by time.

“What she did at that time particularly was amazing,” she says. “She was breaking down barriers for women in sport. She beat the record that had already been set, and most people don’t know about her. So being able to tell her story is very wonderful.”

Ridley says the swimming in the film was real and hard, made harder by wearing the bathing suits of the 1920s.

“We were in these costumes, it’s like wearing a, I’m not joking, a 10-kilo weight vest,” she recalls. “And I had to doggy paddle and doggy paddle … and I had a real cry-ey tired moment after that. It was just, you cannot believe that anyone could have done anything physical in what they were wearing.”

Ridley warns people who plan on watching Young Woman and the Sea in theaters to bring tissues, but emphasizes that while there will be tears, it’ll be “joyful crying.”

“Yeah, the crying tends to be a big reaction. I cried, my mom was in pieces. But I feel like if you want to see something that will make you cry and feel so good … this is the film.”

Young Woman and the Sea is in theaters now.

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