How ‘Nyad’ Screenwriter Julia Cox Captured the Marathon Swimmer’s ‘Extreme, Intense, Very Esoteric Dream’

TheWrap Magazine: Cox drew from Diana Nyad’s memoir and conversations with the super athlete to write the biopic starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster

Annette Bening Nyad
Annette Bening in "Nyad" (Netflix)

This story originally appeared in the Race Begins issue of TheWrap awards magazine.

On September 2, 2013, Diana Nyad finally accomplished the goal that had eluded her for more than 30 years: becoming the first person to swim from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, without a shark cage. She swam 110 miles over 53 hours, braving jellyfish, sharks and storms, stopping only to receive food and fluids while remaining in the water at all times. She was 64.

The path to her prodigious achievement is the story that unfolds in “Nyad,” the new Netflix drama written by Julia Cox and directed by the Oscar-winning “Free Solo” filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi in their narrative feature debut.

Comments

One response to “How ‘Nyad’ Screenwriter Julia Cox Captured the Marathon Swimmer’s ‘Extreme, Intense, Very Esoteric Dream’”

  1. Daniel Slosberg Avatar
    Daniel Slosberg

    It’s not about complexity or likeability with Nyad, though that’s what the filmmakers want you to belive. Diana is a compulsive liar and a charlatan. The filmmakers made an expensive mistake and now have to defend it. Someday, someone will make a film about the real Diana Nyad. NYAD isn’t it.

    Reply

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