Two Film Academy for Talents students appeared in a Disney production. Both earned appearances in the documentary "Young Woman and the Sea", based on the story of the first woman to swim the English Channel. The production is directed by Norwegian Joachim Rønning, known here for "Bandidas". Nikola Nikolov and Mihail Petrov auditioned for the international production, where luck and, above all, preparation secured them roles for the global film company.
Meet them!
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My name is Nikola Nikolov, I’m 28 and from Novi Pazar. I work in several areas at once, including manufacturing and filmmaking.
I hear you recently filmed a Disney production. Can you tell us about it? What is the film called, and how were you chosen for your role?
Nikola Nikolov: The production I joined is called "Young Woman and the Sea". It happened with the kind assistance of one of Bulgaria’s major casting and film companies and a major organiser known throughout Bulgaria, whom I had the chance to meet in person.
Tell us more about your role in the film.
Nikola Nikolov: Thanks to my role, I had the chance to meet the film’s leading actress, Daisy Ridley. I had to play a very demanding scene: a boy running to help in a very difficult moment, saving a drowning person.
Which other Bulgarian actors, your colleagues, are in the film? Tell us about working with the director.
Nikola Nikolov: The director is Norway’s Joachim Rønning. On the Bulgarian side, the film features the well-known Dimo Aleksiev and the great Bashar Rahal. Jeff Nathanson wrote the screenplay, and the producers are Jerry Bruckheimer and John Scotti. This film covers part of a woman’s life. Daisy Ridley plays the first woman to swim the English Channel in a story based on Glenn Stout’s dramatic novel. Daisy plays Gertrude Ederle, or Trudy for short, who in 1926 covered a full 21 miles between the English and French shores.
When will the film be finished?
Nikola Nikolov: It will be ready next year, and Bulgarian audiences will be able to watch it.
I’d like to ask how the Film Academy for Talents school helped you take part in this film.
Nikola Nikolov: Thank you so much for that question, truly! Natalia Dukova is an exceptional person, always radiating happiness and energy, always ready to give you that little piece of happiness you’re missing. Natalia is an exceptional professional whom you could learn from for many years. And Tsvyatko Tsenov is a unique mentor. Yes, both of them helped me enormously. They gave my life a different direction, and it is thanks to working with them that I reached the point where I could perform my role professionally in this production. I hope viewers will also appreciate what I’ve done on screen in this film. I’m immensely grateful to the Film Academy for Talents for giving me this start in my professional acting journey. God willing, I’ll get more roles here and outside Bulgaria.
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I’m Mihail Petrov, 32 years old. I was born in Silistra, live in Varna, and work in art and sport.
I hear you recently joined a Disney production. Tell us more: what is it, how did you get involved, and what is your role?
Mihail Petrov: The film is called "Young Woman and the Sea". It’s a documentary about the first woman to swim the English Channel: her first attempt failed, but her second succeeded. I happened to learn about the casting through our group at the Film Academy for Talents school. We have a group where everyone posts current news about auditions, productions and so on. Unfortunately, I found out towards the end of filming.
And what is your role in the film?
Mihail Petrov: I’m an extra, one of the people welcoming Trudy. But when the production learned I’m a marathon runner, they gave me a small but different role: the others run, while I run towards them, in exactly the opposite direction. Different again!
Tell us about working with the rest of the team, the other actors and the director.
Mihail Petrov: I mostly socialised with the other extras in the group. There were Ukrainians, Romanians, Russians and even a woman from Lithuania. We had fun on set.
What helped you most with the role: acting school or your good physical fitness?
Mihail Petrov: Talent is something I carry within me, but the Film Academy for Talents, through Tsvyatko, Niki and Natalia, discovered and developed it. I learned new things from them that help enormously at auditions.
What was the atmosphere like on set?
Mihail Petrov: We had a lot of fun talking to one another. It was also very interesting to watch them prepare the lead actress. In one scene, because of the weather conditions, her double even appeared to perform some more difficult scenes. That was very interesting to see. So was the transformation of the Kamchiya River, which had to become an ocean for the screenplay, with lots of sand and the appropriate "cosmetic" changes. That is quite a difficult challenge.
What kinds of productions would you like to appear in from now on?
Mihail Petrov: I’m not in a position to pick and choose, because I’m at the start of my career. I would take part in both adverts and films.
