Ilfenesh Hadera feels lucky to have been raised by her "f***ing tough" mother and grandmother.
Ilfenesh Hadera in The Red Bulletin
The 31-year-old actress was recently praised by her 'Baywatch' co-star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson for being "tougher than new rope" and she has admitted her mental strength comes from the two most important women in her life.
She said: "I am lucky to have been raised by some incredibly strong women.
"My mother and grandmother are the most compassionate, wonderful, lovely women I know, but they are f***ing tough. My grandmother is 84, and she is active, self-sufficient, smart, adventurous and as tough as nails. My mom is the same. She is my best friend, and she is the f***ing coolest. She is from Vermont and has a total hippy vibe. She never judges, always listens, and gives great advice."
The brunette beauty portrays Stephanie Holden in the fitness-led blockbuster but was initially terrified of swimming through the sea as she suffered an embarrassing blunder in the pool a decade ago.
Speaking in the next issue of The Red Bulletin magazine, she explained: "I was in the YMCA swim team before starting high school. At my final meet,I was standing on the starting block, and I just fell into the water before the whistle blew. It was the most excruciatingly embarrassing moment. I wanted to stay at the bottom [of the pool]. It was horrible.
"I'm a pretty strong swimmer. For two months, we trained twice a week, two hours a session. Two hours in the pool is a long time. Swimming is insane exercise - a total body workout."
Although she now has an impressive acting career, Ilfenesh had to work hard to achieve her dreams.
She said: "You have to actively remind yourself of that. I'm really fortunate that I'm finally able to do what I love to do every day; there were many years of working in restaurants to pay the bills. So what was I? A hostess, not an actress. But that was a stupid way to look at it. As long as you're hustling to get where you're supposed to be, there's no shame in what you're doing to get there."
The full article is out in the next issue of The Red Bulletin Magazine or on www.redbulletin.com.
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