Actress and athlete Ingrid Walters chatted about being a part of “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun” docuseries on Hulu.
Oprah Winfrey once said: “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” This quote applies to Ingrid Walters.
‘After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun’
On being a part of “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun,” Walters said, “It was great. I was actually quite surprised that they asked me because I only worked two seasons, and I only did 13 episodes.”
“When my manager called me about this, I was really happy because it was a really big part of my career,” she noted.
orking with director Matthew Felker
On working with director Matthew Felker, she said, “Matt was awesome! I didn’t know him previously, but once we got involved in the project, he became a really good friend, and I appreciated the fact that he wanted to tell my story.”
“I never really thought about it, but he thought about ‘Baywatch’ in more different angles than I did. I was very grateful that he thought my story was important,” she added.
Lessons learned from this Hulu documentary and the show ‘Baywatch’
Walters remarked, “Being on the show was great because I was a lifeguard already; it was a little bit easier for the physical stuff, and it taught me that I could work on a set and that I could work with people.”
“We had a lot of fun, and I brought over the discipline that I had developed from being a swimmer, as well as the knowledge from being a lifeguard, which they were always really appreciative of, so I felt very useful on the show, and I was glad that I was able to bring some representation on there,” she elaborated.
“Growing up, I was always the only black swimmer, and in lifeguarding, I was the only black female, but I never thought about it until people would bring it up. I am glad that I was able to show viewers that women can be lifeguards too,” she added.
Presently, she competes with an elite racing team, The Janes, as a top marathon runner.
Overcoming breast cancer
Walters revealed that she has been in remission from breast cancer for a little under five years.
“When we shot this documentary, I was a year and a half, post-chemo and post-radiation, so it was early on (after I had gone through everything),” she revealed.
“Finding out that I had breast cancer was a shock to me because it was not something that runs in my family, but I went at it like I would a race. We did surgery, chemo and radiation for it, and that’s what happened,” she explained.
“I ran throughout my treatment, so I was able to keep a leveled head and sweat every day,” she said. “While I lost a lot of my fitness, but in a sense, I kept it. That taught me a lot about myself. That journey of my life taught me that I am stronger than I think I am.”
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, Walters said, “To be continued…”
“It’s not over… it’s only the beginning. I have so much more that I want to do,” she admitted. “I am looking forward to the future because I know that it’s going to be good, big, and meaningful.”
Success
Regarding her definition of success, Walters said, “Success is a state of mind. It is having great friends, people that trust you and love you. That’s all the success I really need. I associate success with my athletics as well.”
“Being an individual athlete, you are not on a team, so to speak, so you are pretty much responsible for yourself and your accomplishments, because it is just you and the clock,” she acknowledged.
“For me, being successful is improving and being happy with those improvements. It’s a pretty simple equation, which is why I like to run and do different types of sports. I can see when I am getting better, and I can see when I don’t,” she concluded.
To learn more about Ingrid Walters, follow her on Instagram, and check out her IMDb page.