Diane Kruger and Kiernan Shipka Talk New Roku Series ‘Swimming With Sharks’ (Exclusive)

Diane Kruger and Kiernan Shipka are starring together in brand new Roku series, Swimming With Sharks. The series was created by Kathleen Robertson, and is inspired by the 1994 film of the same name. Swimming With Sharks follows Shipka’s character, Lou Simms, “a young female assistant at the center of a studio filled with manipulators and schemers – none of whom know she’s poised to outwit them all.” 

Kruger plays the studio boss Joyce Holt, who is under pressure from her cruel mentor, Redmond (Donald Sutherland), to run things the way he expects, while also desperately trying for a baby with her husband (Gerardo Celasco). Speaking of how she captured Joyce’s complex nature, Kruger gave credit to Robertson’s script. “I mean, a lot of it was on the page. And what drew me to the character was the vulnerability to what it uniquely means to be a woman who is in a position of power today.”

The Inglorious Basterds continued, “I feel like a lot of women have worked really hard to the top of their game. And finally, it feels like, it’s 2022, and more and more, that’s actually a reality. How do we manage power? How do we manage to do it all, including family and husbands? And that struggle is real, and that is definitely something I can relate to. And the when she is that terrible boss, to be honest, I thought about a lot of men, a lot of men that I met, observed and seen, and what was acceptable at a time and which is not, but it was really fun to be so out outrageously bad.”

Offering some insight in her role, Shipka shared, “What drew me to [Lou] was that she was very unlike Sabrina and Sally and the things and the characters that people associate me with. So, playing someone … I played a character in a movie called Blackcoat’s Daughter. It’s an A24 movie that I did in 2015. And, and she kind of had a similar shade. There was a lot unspoken, there was a lot going on up here. And I just remember it being one of my favorite experiences to film that and play that sort of silent, but deadly sort of character in some ways. And I wanted to do it again. And Lou felt like, oh, that reminds me of that time that I did that thing and really loved it.”

She continued, “And it was coming off of . I didn’t have much time. I had one day off from Sabrina before we started shooting this, and I was coming off a long run. So I think I kind of used a lot of the fatigue and emotional vulnerability that I was feeling and luckily was able to funnel it straight into this other character. So it all felt really, really fun. And it was just great to do. Swimming With Sharks Season 1 is now streaming on The Roku Channel, which does not require a Roku-specific streaming device, as anyone can download the Roku app and stream the series for free.