Disney+ is in talks with Daisy Ridley to star in the Young Woman and the Sea film based on the book by Glenn Stout. The story tells the journey of Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle, the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel. The Olympic gold medalist made the 21-mile swim from England to France in 1926.
Joaquim Rønning is in negotiations to direct. Jeff Nathanson wrote the script. Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman are producing.
Ridley is best known for her role as Rey in three Star Wars films including, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. Bruckheimer produced the Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney. Rønning directed 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Nathanson wrote it.
Ederle, who was the daughter of a German butcher from Manhattan, was a competitive swimmer who won gold in the 1924 Olympics and decided to join the race to become the first woman to make the hazardous crossing after only five men had been able to do it.
She started her journey by first swimming 22 miles from Battery Park in New York to Sandy Hook, NJ, setting a record that stood for 81 years. She also contracted two newspapers to follow and share her story.
