Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Hollywood Authentic follows Lily James on-set in LA of her first producing project – the biopic of Bumble founder and self-made billionaire Whitney Wolfe Herd – and to the premiere on hometown soil in London. James tells us about the challenge of playing her ‘absolute hero’.
‘I’ve always been hugely protective of the characters I play,’ Lily James tells Hollywood Authentic as she welcomes us into her trailer on the LA set of Swiped in early June 2024, her inaugural project where she leads the cast as well as produces. ‘But this is on a bigger scale.’
Exec-producing alongside her partner Gala Gordon and producers Sarah Shepherd, Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay, Swiped tells the story of Whitney Wolfe Herd’s phenomenal rise as a co-founder of Tinder before leaving in 2014 to establish Bumble and becoming the first woman to take a company public at the age of 31. James’ Downton Abbey colleague Dan Stevens co-stars as Wolfe Herd’s business partner in the film which releases this week. Rachel Lee Goldenberg directs a script written by herself, Bill Parker and Kim Caramele the film tracks period of time at Tinder and then continues on as she goes onto build bumble becoming at the time the youngest women ever to take a company public. As a production team, the decision was made to use publicly available information to tell this story with a highly experienced research team. They never reached out to Whitney. James herself (seen below with acting coach Leigh Kilton-Smith) became obsessed with reading, listening, and watching everything she could about Wolfe Herd.
‘She was the youngest woman to ever take a company public,’ James says of the Wolfe Herd, transforming into her via blue contact lenses and her signature engaging voice. ‘This is based on her incredible journey to make the Internet safer for women and create a safe space where women can make the first move in their lives and in relationships.’
Wolfe Herd built Bumble as CEO and founder, taking the company public in 2021, stepping down in 2023 as a billionaire, trailblazer and innovator. She is something of an inspiration to James who describes her as ‘brilliant’ as she gets ready to film scenes in an office building dressed to look like Tinder HQ. James climbs onto a huge furry ‘E’ in her Wolfe Herd businesswear and loafers. ‘Her superpower is that she makes everyone around her feel safe and comfortable – and fall in love with her. Because she listens and is empathetic to her core. That’s what makes her a great leader and someone people want to follow and work with.’
James is spreading her own leadership wings with her producer hat on – alongside other projects she is developing under her company, Parodos – but is enjoying the challenge. ‘Every day genuinely feels like a fight to make sure that I’m fully happy with everything.’ Bowing at TIFF, Swiped premiered in James’ hometown of London on an overcast day in September where Greg Williams caught her dodging the rain in Soho on her way to the Mayfair Curzon. Like Wolfe Herd, James is enjoying the moments of being a female leader in a male-dominated industry…
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Interview by JANE CROWTHER
Swiped is available on Disney+ and Hulu now
