Diana Nyad’s real life trainer says Jodie Foster nailed the role: ‘I thought it was me’
Bonnie Stoll is not a woman who’s easy to fool – but Jodie Foster pulled it off.
The Oscar winning actress plays the former racquetball champion in Nyad, the story of endurance-swimmer Diana Nyad who aged 60 decided to re-attempt the punishing 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida which eluded her in her youth.
(L-R) Foster and Annette Bening. Pic: Kimberley French/Netflix
Stoll, who was both Nyad’s best friend and professional trainer, tells Sky News: “The first time I saw [the film], I definitely thought it was me…
“It’s surreal and unbelievable and a real tribute to this actor. I mean, she did it. It surprises me almost every time I see the movie and I see it quite a bit. I think it’s me up there.”
Foster, 60, is reported to have completely immersed herself in Stoll’s way of life: training, nutrition, supplements, workouts, everything.
Quickly noting Stoll’s “salt of the earth quality,” she described her as “the kind of person you’d want to be in a storm with”. Which is lucky, because the movie has several storms to get through.
Annette Bening too – who plays Nyad in the film – trained for over a year to get into peak physical condition for the role, which of course demanded prolonged stretches of swimming.
World class actors, meeting a world class athletes and making a movie together. It’s a recipe that Netflix will be hoping might be a hit with the critics.
The movie re-creates some of the most challenging moments of the real-life crossing, which was completed without the use of a shark-cage, despite the risk of predator infested waters.
Bening trained for the role for over a year. Pic: Kimberley French/Netflix
But it was not sharks that turned out to be the biggest problem.
Stoll explained the biggest threat to their success came from deadly box jellyfish.
“We did not expect them. We had no idea they were already in the Gulf. But it was not a pleasant surprise… It was kind of a nightmare.”
She explains how Dr Angel Yanagihara, a bio-medical researcher considered to be one of the world’s pre-eminent experts in box jellyfish, helped them overcome the potentially fatal sticking point by helping design a mask.
However, that came at a cost.
“Diana was getting prosthetic for her face, the mask, so the box couldn’t get in. And then we heard about a box getting into someone’s mouth and they swallowed it. And that was not a good result.
“The swimming in that mask was a nightmare, for me especially. I can’t even look at it. It’s claustrophobic.”
Bening and Foster pictured on set alongside their real-life characters. Pic: Kimberley French/Netflix
The film’s director, Chai Vasarhelyi says they replicated everything Diana wore down to the last detail: “It was that authentic. The same suit that Diana wore, the same goggles, everything”.
And while they had two silicone face masks made for Bening to wear, Vasarhelyi admitted: “It was so painful we cut out the mouthpiece”.
It’s a move Stoll approved of, echoing: “Good, good”.
Vasarhelyi worked with her husband, professional climber, skier, filmmaker and photographer Jimmy Chin on the film, and the couple have two young children together.
She explained: “It was a really good way of keeping the family together all in one spot and who knew that you can grow in your forties? That you can grow after 12 years of marriage?”
The couple’s past films together include The Rescue (the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave in Northern Thailand) and Free Solo (an Oscar-winning portrait of rock climber Alex Honnold).
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Vasarhelyi summed up their unique area of interest as, “stories about humans who push the possibility”.
And proving that working with your partner isn’t necessarily the recipe for disaster that many might assume, she joked: “We were such old news, you know, me and him. But suddenly, like, we just got stronger. We got better. We saw what each other does even more clearly. And the kids had a great time.”
She added: “It ultimately caused some real deep changes afterwards about how we went, the way we work together.”
It seems the Nyad magic – that propelled the film’s real-life protagonist to wake up one day aged 60 and decide she wasn’t done – has rubbed off on its director.
And that is just the sparkle Netflix will be hoping makes its way into voters’ hearts come awards season.
Nyad is streaming now on Netflix.
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
Entertainment
Stalker who believed Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas was his aunt avoids jail
A man who stalked Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas for six years has avoided jail.
Kyle Shaw, 37, got a 20-month suspended sentence and a lifetime restraining order on contacting Ballas, her mother, niece, and former partner.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that he thought Ballas was his aunt and “began a persistent campaign of contact”.
“He believed, and it’s evident from what he was told by his mother, that her late brother was his father,” said prosecutor Nicola Daley.
The court heard there was no evidence he was wrong, and “limited evidence” he was correct.
Ms Daley said Shaw’s messages had accused Ballas of being to blame for the death of her brother, who took his own life in 2003 aged 44.
He also set up social media accounts in his name.
Shaw had pleaded guilty to stalking the former dancer between August 2017 and November 2023 at a hearing in February.
Incidents included following Ballas’s 86-year-old mother, Audrey Rich, while she was shopping and telling her she was his grandmother.
The court heard in messages to Mrs Rich, Shaw had asked: “Where’s my dad?”
Ballas was so worried for her mother’s safety that she moved her from Merseyside to London.
Kyle Shaw outside court on the day of his sentencing. Pic: PA
In October 2020, Ballas called police after Shaw messaged her and said: “Do you want me to kill myself, Shirley?”
Posts on X included one alongside an image of her home address that warned: “You ruined my life, I’ll ruin yours and everyone’s around you.”
Another referenced a book signing and said: “I can’t wait to meet you for the first time Aunty Shirley. Hopefully I can get an autograph.”
The court was told Ballas’s niece Mary Assall, former partner Daniel Taylor and colleagues from Strictly Come Dancing and ITV’s Loose Women were also sent messages.
‘I know where you live’
On one occasion in late 2023, Shaw called Mr Taylor and told him he knew where the couple lived and described Ballas’s movements.
The court heard the 64-year-old TV star become wary of socialising and stopped using public transport.
Prosecutor Ms Daley said: “She described having sleepless nights worrying about herself and her family’s safety and being particularly distressed when suggestions were made to her that she and her mother were responsible for her brother taking his own life.”
Ballas has been head judge on Strictly Come Dancing since 2017. Pic: PA
Shaw cried and wiped away tears as he was sentenced on Tuesday.
The judge said the stalking stemmed from his mother telling him Ballas’s brother, David Rich, was his biological father.
“I’m satisfied that your motive for this offending was a desire to seek contact with people you genuinely believed were your family,” he said.
“Whether in fact there’s any truth in that belief is difficult, if not impossible, to determine.”
Shaw pictured at court in February. Pic: PA
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Defence lawyer John Weate said Shaw had been told the story by his mother “in his mid to late teens” and had suffered “complex mental health issues” since he was a child.
He added: “He now accepts that Miss Ballas and her family don’t wish to have any contact with him and, importantly, he volunteered the information that he has no intention of contacting them again.”
Shaw, of Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, also admitted possessing cannabis and was ordered to undertake a rehab programme.
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