Jodie Foster, a two-time Oscar winner, has joined the cast “Nyad,”The Oscar-winning pair behind will direct a biopic that is based on Diana Nyad’s life. “Free Solo,”According to a person with knowledge of the project.
Annette Bening will star as Diana Nyad. This film will show how Nyad, 64, became the first to swim the length from Cuba to Florida in her own boat. Foster will play Bonnie Stoll, Nyad’s coach and longtime friend.
Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi will be making their feature film debuts on the biopic.
The film is based on Diana Nyad’s autobiography “Find a Way”The screenplay was written by Emmy-winner Ann Biderman“Ray Donovan”) with revisions by Black List writer Julia Cox (the upcoming “Do No Harm”).
Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar and Black Bear Pictures’ Teddy Schwarzman developed and will produce.
Nyad came to fame as a long-distance swimmer back in the ’70s when she swam around the length of Manhattan, or 28 miles. She made headlines when she completed the 110-mile swim from Havana (Cuba) to Key West, Florida. Nyad tried the swim five times between 2011-2013. She relied on 35 friends and her best friend to help her overcome the odds. She was once a top-ranked squash player, and is now an author and professional speaker.
Foster was most recently seen in last year’s drama “The Mauritanian”Tahar Ramin and Benedict Cumberbatch are opposite.
Foster is repped and represented by CAA, attorney Matt Saver.
The Hollywood ReporterThe news was first reported.