PBS NewsHour | Annette Bening on her new role as a famed swimmer Diana Nyad | Season 2024

Oscar buzz came from Annette Bening, a# four-time Academy Award nominee known for## such films as "The Grifters," "American# Beauty," and "The Kids Are All Right."

In her latest, she takes on a# formidable woman in her own right,## the famed long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad.

Jeffrey Brown has our look for our# arts and culture series, Canvas.

WOMAN: One hundred miles or# 60 hours of constant swimming.

JEFFREY BROWN: At age 60, Diana Nyad, played by# Annette Bening in the film "Nyad," decided to## attempt what she had been unable to achieve# in her 20s, swim from Cuba to Florida.

ANNETTE BENING, Actress: Imagine knowing in your## bones that you c JEFFREY BROWN: Nyad herself navigated more than# 100 miles through waters infested by sharks and## venomous jellyfish, this time without a protective# cage.

She would fail and fail and fail again,## before finally accomplishing her dream in 2013# at age 64, swimming for just under 53 hours.

For Bening, accepting the role was# irresistible.

Only then did reality hit.

ANNETTE BENING: I didn't really think# about it, but that is sort of a good thing,## because that's how you end up plunging into things# that are shocking and new and different, learn and you grow and you have a new challenge.# And I don't regret it at all.

It's the opposite.

But I did then pause and, wait a minute,# I'm in a bathing suit, and I'm swimming,## and I am 60 -- whatever I was at the time, 61,# 62.

And, wait, can I do this?

Can I pull this## off?

And how's that going to work?

So then I got# into the business of trying to figure that out.

JEFFREY BROWN: That echoes Diana Nyad herself,# who titled her 2015 memoir "Find a Way."

She'd achieved fame early on for her epic# swims, retired from the sport at age 30 and## worked for decades as a sportscaster,# before resolving to make waves again.

ANNETTE BENING: I need to get myself functioning# at the highest level.

You're going to be my coach.

JEFFREY BROWN: "Nyad" the film# co-starring Jodie Foster as Bonnie Stoll,## Diana's one-time lover, forever# friend and coach for the swim,## was co-directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth# Chai Vasarhelyi, a husband-and-wife team who'd## previously explored the world of extreme sports# in documentaries, including 2018's "Free Solo."

Determined to do her own swimming throughout# the film, Bening trained for more than a year## with former Olympian swimmer Rada Owen to# capture the athleticism and drive of a woman## who'd written of herself: "I'm either# a stubborn fool or a valiant warrior."

ANNETTE BENING: I love that.# I love that she said that.

She is.

She's an extreme person.

She's# an worldly, charismatic woman.

And# she does have a single-mindedness,## let's face it, that is extraordinary.

JEFFREY BROWN: If you're playing# a fanatically driv ANNETTE BENING: Yes.

ANNETTE BENING: Yes.

ANNETTE BENING: Oh, it's fantastic.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes?

ANNETT come to ourselves, but we also escape ourselves.# So there's this funny kind of duality to it.

In a way, it's a wonderful escape to be# somebody else and to leave your own concerns## and your own history and your own issues# and jump into somebody else's shoes.

But,## at the same time, you're always confronting# yourself as an actor.

You're always dealing## with your inner world.

You're the instrument.# So it's always -- that is also rattling around## in your head, or, of course, you would# be insane, because it is just pretend.

JEFFREY BROWN: For all her Hollywood celebrity,# including a longtime marriage to actor and Academy## Award-winning director Warren Beatty, Bening# started in theater and returns to it regularly.

ANNETTE BENING: I will take# of your favors, then.

Take it!

JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, we'd first talked in 2009,## when she started a production of "Medea,"# the ancient Greek She's clearly unafraid to take on# challenging roles.

With "Medea,"## scorned wife takes revenge to shocking# extreme by killing her children.

ANNETTE BENING: Did we drift?

JEFFREY BROW hours in water and sun, frequent vomiting# and life-threatening jellyfish stings.

ANNETTE BENING: That's very liberating.

It's# wonderful to just strip everything away,## and I think that I was trained# that way.

I did a lot of plays.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

ANNE it didn't start happening, this whole thing about# being glamorized, and having makeup put on you, and being lit in a certain way, and all# the things that come with movie acting,## that is -- it's all fine.

It's# an interesting part of the job.

But it's just a part of it.

And# being able to strip everything## away in service of a story that you care# about, that's -- it's a great feeling.

JODIE FOSTER, Actress: Look# at the horizon.

You see it?

ANNETTE BENING: Is it the sun?

JODIE FOSTER: No, that's not the sun,# babe.

Those are the lights of Key West.

JEFFREY BROWN: For all the single-minded# obsession here, Bening says the real key## to this story is how Nyad comes to see she can't# do it alone, relying on a support team in of the water, most of all, friend Bonnie, and,# for Bening, fellow acting great Jodie Foster.

ANNETTE BENING: Diana needs Bonnie in# order to do what she does.

And it is## also a reflection of our profession.

We# need each other so much in our work.

It's## interacting.

It's listening.

It's responding# and being there for your partner and giving.

And all of that is so -- it's such a satisfying,# joyous kind of exchange, even in tough scenes.## And even in dark moments, to have that bond, that# mutual vulnerability is such a key part of acting.

JEFFREY BROWN: And it's probably worth saying,## I mean, they are t ANNETTE BENING: Well, yes, there's been a lot of# stories that just haven't been told about women.## It's not that the stories haven't been there.# It's that people haven't made them.

Women disappear when they're 50 or 60 or 70 or 80.# And stories are very interesting and very rich.

And I think we're in a time now where# a lot of the stereotypes, not all,## but a lot of the stereotypes# that women were trapped in,## in the movies are dropping away.

It's# not just about playing a -- quote,## unquote -- "strong woman."

That's not interesting.# It's interesting to play somebody with and flaws and vulnerabilities and also humor# and also intelligence and the whole range.

JEFFREY BROWN: And for you personally, you# don't have a desire to swim from Cuba to Miami?

ANNETTE BENING: I do not.

But# I still swim.

It's just... JEFFREY BROWN: You do?

amount of exercise and sort of maintain my inner## equanimity.

So now it's swimming.

And# I'm just -- I love it.

It's the JE FFREY BROWN: One other enduring benefit from# the film, Annette Bening reports, the friendship## between Nyad and her that started during# production continues, happily going the distance.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm# Jeffrey Brown in New York.

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