After playing a jedi in Star Wars, Daisy Ridley made waves with the sports biopic Young Woman and the Sea. Set in the 1920s, the film directed by Joachim Ronning, chronicles the true story of American swimming icon Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle who won gold in the 1924 Olympics. She then went on to make history by becoming the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926. Ridley, who isn’t a stranger to playing exceptional women, found herself onboard as Executive Producer and honing her swimming skills to essay the role of Trudy.

In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Daisy Ridley opened up about diving into the deep end with Young Woman and the Sea.

How much does being an executive producer help you as an actor?

I came in just as an actor and I felt so heard. The story between the sisters was already so strong but I wanted that to be the centrepiece to the way we were telling Trudy’s story. And I think being embraced as an executive producer really helped me see the whole instead of just my place in it. It was wonderful because I gained an understanding of the whole production and what it represents. I wanted to do a good job and I was made to feel part of a team where all these characters and the story come together. It takes so many people to make a film. It’s great overseeing that. I hope this makes me a better actor. I feel so proud of being this involved.

What were some of the challenges of getting into the physicality of the role and doing the swimming portions?

It was not easy. Learning a new sport as an adult is so difficult. And I haven’t really swam before. I could do the brush stroke but I had never really done front crawl ever. So learning a whole new skill was daunting. Especially since by the time we were coming up to the big swim by the end of the film, we had already done a lot of swimming. We had basically shot a whole film and I was tired. The mental overcoming of “I have to go to the Black Sea for nine days,” and going into the sea and then coming out again and again, that was hard. And it still doesn’t compare to what Trudy did. I watched the finished film, when it pops up – It’s funny being in the film I felt like I have an understanding of what that felt like. But I still cannot even begin to comprehend what that took for her. Particularly at a time when no other woman had done that. It’s so remarkable.

After Star Wars, was it a conscious decision to play characters that have a different journey than Rey?

It isn’t a very conscious decision to play a different role.I feel very lucky that over the last few years I’ve done lots of different projects in different genres. It’s one of those things where you do a job and you don’t know how things are going to come out. But I’m so drawn to scripts so I was naturally leaning towards Jeff’s script. Trying different things and exist in distinct worlds. It isn’t intentional but it’s such a luxury to have these opportunities.

How do you relate to a person who existed in a completely different time period?

It’s interesting because the film is set in the 1920s but Trudy is outside of what the norm was. She was somewhere between there and now. She was so far ahead of imagining what might be accessible for women. Having unbelievable costumes and production design helped. Once we stepped onto set, we were immersed in the world. Even watching Tilda play Meg was so heartbreaking because Meg is the representation of what the norm was. So I also thought it was harder for her since she’s so constrained. Meanwhile, Trudy overcame so much. She had a lot of freedom so I feel these were very different representations of what the world was like for women at that time. And that resonates.

Young Woman and the Sea is currently streaming.