Lily James opens up about playing Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd in ‘Swiped’

PHILADELPHIA — You’ve likely heard of the dating apps Tinder and Bumble, and maybe even used them. But do you know the story of the creative mind behind them?

Streaming now on Hulu is the biographical film “Swiped.”

Lily James plays Whitney Wolfe Herd, a college grad who famously broke into the male-dominated tech industry.

“There are so many stories about the male founders,” James says. “For me, it struck me on a very deep, like a deep chord. I was really excited to get to share this story.”

Wolfe was a co-founder of Tinder when she decided to make a change in the online dating world, creating Bumble to make the experience better for women.

“She was experiencing, through her story, these very dark times and found the solution, not only for herself, but really for all women,” James explains. “It was to protect those other women so they don’t have to experience the same thing she did.”

As the founder and CEO of Bumble, Wolfe became one of the youngest women ever to take a company public, and the youngest female self-made billionaire.

“I just really wanted to champion this triumphant story, and a woman with such great resilience and tenacity,” James says.

Ongoing legal issues and NDAs prevented them from working with Wolfe as they told her story.

James is also a producer on the film and was committed to getting it right.

“I learned so much learning about her,” she says. “When you play different characters, sometimes I kind of can’t wait to get out of their skin and let them go and kind of shed that experience. And with this, I really want to hold on to some of those qualities that Whitney has. She moves with such great conviction and mission and continually breaks boundaries. I would love to do that in my own way, in my industry too.”

“Swiped” is streaming now on Hulu.

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