One of the reasons Kerry Condon wanted to dive into Night Swim was the water.

“I was always interested in doing swimming on-camera and combining those two great interests for me,” Condon, an accomplished swimmer who swam competitively as a child, says. “I am a good swimmer and I wanted to show my physicality. I love water in movies and I think filming in water is beautiful, so I wanted to be a part of that and learn more about it.”

Another major reason was the genre. “I thought this was a great opportunity for me that I’d never done a horror movie before, and I’ve always wanted a career that would allow me to be a character actress in every kind of genre,” shares Condon, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in the comedy The Banshees of Inisherin. Condon was also a recurring character in the critically acclaimed drama Better Call Saul (a Breaking Bad spinoff).

In Night Swim, based on McGuire’s acclaimed 2014 short film of the same name, Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) is a former major league baseball player forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness. Secretly hoping, against the odds, to return to pro ball, Ray persuades his wife, Eve (Condon), that their new home’s shimmering backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids (Amélie Hoeferle and Gavin Warren) and provide physical therapy for him. But a dark secret in the home’s past will unleash a malevolent force that will drag the family under, into the depths of inescapable terror.

“On the day I met Kerry, she had been nominated for a Golden Globe for Banshees of Inisherin and swam a mile in the ocean that morning – not a bad day,” director Bryce McGuire says. “She had to do some really demanding underwater work, especially late in the movie, that most people simply would not have been able to do. She’s an extremely tough and physical actor. Something special happens with Kerry every time the camera rolls. She really pushed me and the material, and she’s fantastic in the movie.”

Condon enjoyed working with McGuire as well. “Bryce knew a lot about the genre and that was important to me because I hadn’t done something like this before,” she says. “He had a lot of references and wanted it to be character-based, which appealed to me. A lot was riding on Bryce, and he gave it everything. He was also always open to collaboration, which was great. I have worked with directors in the past that didn’t want to listen to other suggestions, but I believe that the best idea should win, doesn’t matter who gave it and Bryce felt the same.”

Dare to take a dive when Night Swim, distributed by Universal Pictures International, opens in cinemas February 21. #NightSwimMoviePh

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Photo Credit: Universal Pictures