Former SMU Rower Details College Struggles in Directorial Debut

Introspective drama examines the physical and psychological toll of athletics

It began with a flyer in Lauren Hadaway’s mailbox during her freshman year at SMU: “Join novice rowing. No experience required.”

Hadaway’s subsequent love-hate relationship with the sport triggered four years of mental and physical anguish — much of it self-inflicted — and culminated more than a decade later in The Novice, her semiautobiographical feature filmmaking debut.

“It almost destroyed me, but that resiliency that I built really helped when I moved to L.A.,” said Hadaway, a Red Oak native who arrived on campus in 2007 looking for a new activity that would fulfill her hyper-competitive drive.

“I didn’t even know what rowing was,” she said. “It sounded harder than an intramural, and I always like a challenge.”

She willingly endured a regimen that included waking up at 5 a.m. six days a week, often practicing twice a day, double-majoring in cinema and business, holding an internship or part-time job every semester, and participating in on-campus clubs and honors programs.

“I was extremely overextended, but it felt normal to me,” Hadaway said. “I thought everyone was going through the same thing I was experiencing, but in hindsight, I don’t think everyone was.”

For the film, Hadaway condensed her experience at SMU into a single year in the life of Alex (Isabelle Fuhrman), a hard-charging freshman. Her decision turns into an all-encompassing quest for perfection, even if it means jeopardizing her social life, academics, and physical and mental health.

“My entire body is probably messed up for life,” Hadaway said. “You’re doing the same motion, over and over, staring at the back of someone’s ponytail for hours on end.”

After college, she moved to Los Angeles and built a successful career working in the sound department of major films, including Whiplash and The Hateful Eight. 

I was extremely overextended, but it felt normal to me.

Lauren Hadaway

Hadaway wrote the first draft of her screenplay in 2017 while in London serving as a sound editor on Justice League. She called her former teammates to ask what they remember about those years: “Everyone thought [I was] psychotic.”

The deeply personal project attracted the attention of producer Ryan Hawkins, an ex-SMU classmate. Cameras rolled near Toronto in late 2019, with Hadaway editing much of the film in her kitchen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fuhrman (Orphan) went through six weeks of intense training before filming, often waking up before dawn for a cold drive to the marina.

“I had never done rowing, so I got blisters so quickly. I fell into the same pattern that Alex does, but I got to fall in love with the sport at the same time,” Furhman said. “I found the exhaustion to be incredibly energizing.”

Hadaway’s film isn’t meant to denigrate rowing or her alma mater but rather to offer a raw and intimate perspective on the college experience, both in and out of the boat.

“I loved rowing, and I tried to capture the beauty of it,” she said. “On the water, I saw more sunrises in four years than most people see in a lifetime.”