That Bumble Inc. founder Whitney Wolfe Herd couldn’t participate in her own biopic is precisely what drew actor and producer Lily James to it. The filmmakers didn’t even reach out to Wolfe Herd because the project tackled material that was covered by a nondisclosure agreement.
“Part of why I wanted to make this movie is to explore how NDAs are weaponized against women,” James says in a phone call, her homegrown British accent a stark contrast to the cheery American one she assumes as the bubbly tech founder in Swiped. The NDA in question was part of Wolfe Herd’s 2014 settlement with Tinder and parent IAC/InterActiveCorp, now IAC Inc., which she’d sued for discrimination and sexual harassment. “In a way this film becomes a form of reclamation not just for Whitney but for women who have been told to keep quiet,” James says.