Very few people on Earth can surf colossal waves as well as the legendary Garrett McNamara. And even fewer share his capacity to put the experience into words.
“It’s like getting in a race car, having an avalanche come after you and you’re kind of on a muddy road going as fast as you can,” Garrett explained during an appearance at “HBO Doc Panel: 100 Foot Wave,” part of the Deadline FYC House + HBO Max screening and panel series. “This avalanche — you’re taunting it, for about lack of a better word, staying right under the avalanche, letting it engulf you.”
Season 2 of the Emmy-winning series debuts on HBO on Sunday night, with Garrett and his wife Nicole back, along with many of the world’s top big-wave surfers chasing the adrenaline rush of riding a massive wall of water. Much of the action again takes place at Nazaré, Portugal, which McNamara helped put on the map as the location with perhaps the biggest waves on the planet.
“We had faith in the idea that there was a lot more there to do,” director and executive producer Chris Smith said of returning for a second season. “We’re only as good as the people that allowed us into their lives… They’re incredibly open with us and I think that’s what makes it so special.”
Season 1 was all about McNamara’s quest to surf the biggest wave in history. In Season 2, he plays a somewhat more supportive role to others who are eager to equal what he’s done.
“I pretty much accomplished all my goals and dreams, so I just want to help all the people around me accomplish theirs,” McNamara said. “I’m finally patient and I don’t have to surf every wave.”
Season 2 sees Garrett and Nicole welcome their third child, daughter Fe (pronounced “fay”; the Portuguese word for faith). Nicole literally gives birth on camera.
“I’m actually a very private person,” Nicole said, but noted she nonetheless felt “definitely no hesitation” about allowing cameras around her for that intimate moment. “Because starting Season 1 it was my goal, if I was going to do this, I was going to do it fully. I didn’t want to half do it. … I just had to tell myself, I’m going to completely ignore the camera and I’m going to do everything I normally would do and not change anything that I would say or do.”
That philosophy extended to sharing candid interpersonal moments between wife and husband.
“Sometimes it frustrates Garrett, because he’ll be like, ‘Don’t get so mad at me in front of the camera.’ I’m like, ‘You asked me to document my life. So I’m gonna keep it real,’” she said to the amusement of the audience. Garrett joked about how he felt in the moment, “Don’t show the real stuff!”
Tony and Emmy winner Joe Lewis (Fleabag) is among the executive producers of the series. He became attached to 100 Foot Wave through a family connection.
“Nicole is my wife’s second cousin. And a few years ago they just asked me for advice” about doing a documentary series, he said. “They asked me to get involved. I was lucky enough to know Chris and asked him if he liked surfing. Turns out he didn’t, but it still worked out. I just follow my curiosity and love great artists. And, like Garrett, I like helping people accomplish things. I like putting good things out in the world.”
Smith chimed in, “For the record, I do like surfing now.”
Smith’s credits include the documentary series Bad Vegan, the documentary Fyre about the ill-fated music festival, and executive producing the docuseries Tiger King. None of those projects necessarily show off humanity to best advantage.
“I had spent some years making some things that felt like they were almost more negative,” Smith said. “Since doing this show, I feel like I’ve been making things that are more positive. They both have their place, but it’s been very nice to live in this space, because you spend so much time on these projects and I never get tired of visiting these people and visiting that town [Nazaré] and these waves.”
As for the possibility of a third season, Smith says he’s up for it.
“We’ll see,” he said, adding, “We’d love to. We’ll go as long as we can.”
Check out the conversation in the video above.
