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Anne Marie eats, sleeps, and breathes surfing.
Soon enough, the role was hers.
But shes especially fond of her big break, which opened at No.
3 at the box office and grossed nearly twice its production budget.
Not getting roles wasnt frustrating because thats the name of the game, but the stereotypes felt disappointing.
I just felt such a deep affinity for her.
If youre lucky in your career, that happens a few times, but its normally just a handful.
It wasnt like, I hope I get it.
It was like, Ihaveto get this.
I knew I had about a month to learn to surf.
They hired a neutral surfing instructor, and we went out to Malibu, and I just ate it.
I was pretty embarrassed.
Brian and John asked the surf instructor, Do you think this is something thats doable?
He apparently responded, What I can tell you is that youre not going to meet anyone more determined.
He basically placed his bet on me, thankfully.
It really changed the course of my life.
Im so grateful that that experience really set the tone for me as an actor in this industry.
In hindsight, these experiences are lightning in a bottle.
John and Brian are surfers, so they didnt have any interest in exploiting that other possibility.
I remember thinking its such a beautiful sentiment for girls.
That is the beauty of the movie that resonates with so many people, particularly young women, today.
Now Im showing it to my daughter, and now shes really inspired.
I dont know many other people, but I think she would have been really wonderful.
Obviously, in the movie, my character has been surfing since she could walk, essentially.
So I thought this little blonde babys going to have been in the sun her whole life.
When I went to Hawaii, I really didnt wear sunscreen.
It was a pretty full-on dedication.
My water team and my instructor Brian Keaulana were Indigenous to the island.
They were dedicated to honoring not only surf culture but also the culture of Hawaii.
Theres many reasons why this story touches so many people and continues to.
It was so important to me to honor their story and do whatever I could to become believable.
Did you sustain any serious injuries while learning how to surf?There was one really close call.
I went straight down.
But that wasnt the scariest thing.
The surfers jokingly say if you wipe out, you become hamburger meat.
Obviously, it was very scripted, but theres a lot of moments where we were just messing around.
We were all like sisters, and we still feel that way.
Were very different people, but we used to always say were like the perfect points of a triangle.
If Im honest, I feel like the love story of the movie is really the friendship.
In hindsight, I realized how important and honest the love between us was.
That pulse in the movie, I think, is what moved so many young women.
There was a fly-on-the-wall style to it that allowed you to really be with the characters.
So when he shot it, Im sure he used the first take.
I remember thinking,Oh, thats how this whole game works.
I did a movie calledWonderland, and it was a very gritty, true story.
I was interested in inhabiting someone totally different.
I certainly didnt have a plan, but Ive always been very instinctual.
I knew I wanted to really flip the narrative as to what was expected of me.
Where do you think Anne Marie is now?Thats a good question.
I have some ideas.
Michelle, Sanoe, and I always talk about how much wed like to do another movie.
Someone made aBlue Crushsequel in 2011.
