Oscars: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster nominated for roles in Falmouth native's screenplay

No one will be watching the best actress categories more closely than Falmouth native Julia Cox during the 96th Oscar ceremony at 7 p.m. Sunday.

Annette Bening is nominated for best leading actress while Jodie Foster is up for best supporting actress for their roles in “NYAD,” the screenplay Cox wrote telling the story of how real-life distance swimmer Diana Nyad — with coach Bonnie Stoll — made the 110-mile open ocean swim from Havana, Cuba, to Key West, Florida, on her fifth try.

The year was 2013 and Nyad was 64 years old.

Cox based her screenplay on Nyad’s memoir, “Find A Way” and countless hours of research on Nyad’s experiences.

“I was so inspired by her book, but I like to do my own research too,” Cox said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles where she and her sister, Jennifer Cox, both work in film.

Julia Cox’s research included Zoom calls with Nyad and Stoll.

“Her (energy) spiral just radiates,” Cox said of Nyad. “She's a writer's dream, she is just dripping with great material.”

Cox spent six weeks in the Dominican Republic where “NYAD” was filmed. She also worked closely with producers as the team was assembled.

“I was appropriately nervous. I didn’t believe it; when we first got Annette, then Netflix, then Jodie on the project," she said. “They were just the warmest, most brilliant and thoughtful people you could ever meet; really open and had creative ideas to share.”

Screenwriting is a collaboration

Screenwriting is a collaboration, Cox said, which requires being open to good changes while “protecting your baby.”

Foster suggested that in a scene about an intense conversation between her character (Bonnie Stoll) and Nyad, she jump in the water with her friend.

“I had written the scene with Bonnie perching on the edge of the boat,” Cox said. “As a writer, my litmus test for using creative license is ‘it didn’t happen, but it could have …”

Bening suggested enlarging a scene in which she was on a speech tour between ocean swim tries. That shift became a metaphor for her failures on earlier ocean swims.

How growing up on Cape Cod played into 'NYAD'

Growing up on Cape Cod gave Cox a sense of the ocean that helped when writing about Nyad's journey,

“I don’t think anyone could grow up on Cape Cod and not have a relationship with the ocean,” she said, “whether it’s stopping on a winter night to watch the whitecaps or walking onto the beach in summer. My goal is always to swim every day that I am on the Cape.”

Although she never swam competitively like Nyad, Cox said living by the ocean gave her some insight into understanding Nyad’s quest.

“I try to get inside the character and look out from behind my character’s eyes when writing a scene,” she said.

Julia Cox's quest for writing

Since childhood, Cox’s quest has been writing.

“I used to ask my mom if we could call the Easter Bunny and ask him for empty notebooks instead of candy in my basket,” she recalled of her parents, Jim and Jan Cox, who still live in Falmouth.

She credits many teachers for her career, but none more than Cape Cod author Ted Murphy and his “Just Write It” workshop she attended yearly since fourth grade. Murphy has been singing her praises on Facebook, proud of his student.

“Having him take me seriously as a writer at such a young age made so much of a difference,” she said.

Is 'NYAD' lucky 13?

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, Cox moved to LA where she graduated with a master’s degree in screenwriting from the University of Southern California.

“They warned us in film school that you can earn a healthy living and write perfectly good scripts that will sit in some exec’s desk and never get made,” she said. “I’ve probably written 12 projects, but this is the first one to get made.”

“NYAD” may be lucky 13.

In competition with 'Barbie' and 'Oppenheimer'

Not only did its stars receive Oscar nods, “NYAD” was nominated in a separate screenplay competition by the Writers Guild of America, along with the likes of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Those awards are scheduled to be announced in April.

But first, on Sunday, Cox will be at an Oscars satellite party (yes, it's black tie), rooting for the actresses who breathed life into her words.

Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her or X, formerly Twitter: @dailyrecipeCCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod native's 'NYAD' up for Writers Guild award; actors for Oscars