Caroline Marks played a key role in making Now Days come together. Photo: Domenic Mosqueira//Red Bull
At just 24, Caroline Marks has already racked up a lifetime’s worth of achievements — a world title, an Olympic gold medal, and now, a surf film featuring the world’s best women, under 25.
Now Days, featuring Marks along with a super-star cast of Caity Simmers, Molly Picklum, Sierra Kerr, Erin Brooks, and Sky Brown, was premiered in select theaters last week and will be released to the public May 1 on Red Bull TV.
I caught up with Marks as she was heading out to surf Lowers to chat about the film, what makes it special, and life in general during her reign as an Olympic champion.
What makes Now Days a special film for you?
First off: the cast. We have all the best girls in the world. The fact that we’re all surfing together is pretty crazy. It’s rare to see that. And, individually: all of our intros. We all had our own high-production intro highlighting our different personalities. I really love that.
How involved were you in the making of the film?
Pretty involved. Red Bull came to me towards the end of 2023. They originally wanted to do a project with me. I really wanted to do a surf film for a long time. It’s not a crazy idea, but it’s really hard to make it happen because our schedules are really crazy and we’re from different countries.
Leave a Message was over a decade ago, so there’s a reason why it hasn’t been remade. So I pushed really hard for it. My biggest things were having the best surfers, really good music, and really good people behind it. Anything Red Bull puts their hands on, obviously, is really cool. They just made the film so amazing. It has been a lot of work, but seeing it come to life has made it all worth it, which is great.
What was your favorite moment from the filming process?
Definitely our first trip to Indo. We all went to Kandui together. We just had such a fun time. All six of us in one big villa, six girls sharing one bathroom. And getting good waves with your friends is the coolest part, but I loved just hanging out and all, like the banter in between. That was almost just as fun to me, because it’s rarer to have that with your competitors — being normal and talking about life.
What was your favorite spot that you surfed?
It was cool to go to Kandui. That was my first time. I’ve been to the Mentawais a couple of times, but never been to Kandui. Macaronis is one of my favorite waves ever, so it’s pretty hard to beat, but Kandui is also cool because there’s a lot of variety.
You’re the most experienced of the bunch. Do you mentor the others a bit?
It’s funny, people have been calling me a veteran since I was 20. But I got so many years left. I feel like it’s a compliment in a way. I got on tour super young, and even though we are all in the same generation, I feel like I almost qualified in my own generation. When I qualified, there wasn’t a group of girls my age. It was the older girls and me, and then the young girls came a few years later. So for the film, working really closely with Red Bull and being the catalyst, they were definitely like, ‘Okay, what do you think?’ But I think of it more as friends, not so much as me mentoring. I do try to do my best to be a good influence.
Marks on her way to gold at Paris 2024 in Tahiti. Photo: Tim McKenna//ISA
Did you learn anything from the other girls?
Learning all their different personalities has been really cool, and just connecting with them on a more human level. Not just as a savage competitor, which is mostly what you see. Obviously, we travel on the road together, but it’s different: you’re competing, doing your own thing. The film was more like, we’re all in Indo together for weeks, in one villa, so you really get to know each other.
What does a film like this do for the next generation?
I think it’s huge. First off, just seeing the level of progression being pushed. Leave a Message was my favorite film ever, seeing the girls starting to do aerial maneuvers and surfing bigger waves. Now the progression has pushed so much more. Younger girls are going to watch this film and think, “They’re doing that, so I’m going to try to do that and better” — and that’s how you push the sport. Even just the impact we’ve seen from doing a couple of premieres, with young girls saying this is the coolest thing ever, makes it all worth it. Hopefully, it makes a huge impact on the next generation and everyone that watches it, guys, girls, whatever.
You’ve been checking off career highlights: world title, Olympic gold, new film. How did that Olympic gold medal experience change your life?
The (Olympic gold) was the biggest accomplishment of my life. Not everyone knows about surfing, but everyone knows about the Olympics. I didn’t really realize the magnitude of it until it happened — it was huge. Having people recognize me in the airport was pretty awesome. Certain opportunities and sponsor experiences have been really amazing. But for myself, that was one of the biggest dreams I’ve ever had, and to do that at 22, to have that memory with my family there, was pretty insane.
