Record-setting free-diver Nicholas Mevoli of Brooklyn wrote a movie script about himself growing up in Florida Keys and was hoping to get the film made when he died in a tragic dive in the Bahamas.
Mevoli, who had moved to New York to become an actor, was “on the fourth revision of a film script,” his uncle, Paul Mevoli said. “It was one of his side passions.”
The 32-year-old Florida native became the first fatality in 21 years of free-diving competition on Sunday when his lungs gave out after plunging 200 feet while holding his breath.
Mevoli became hooked on diving as an 8-year-old on trips to the Keys where he learned to spearfish and dive for lobsters and discovered he had natural talent.
“We told him he had gills,” said his uncle.
Mevoli worked as a prop technician in New York film and TV production, such as on the series “Chappelle’s Show.”
“Film was how he made a living but diving was his life,” said a friend, Paul McCarthy of Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Mevoli died while trying to set another US record in free-diving.
“He was a world-class athlete. I mean, there aren’t many world-class athletes in Brooklyn,” McCarthy said.
Paul Mevoli said he hopes to have his nephew’s movie made, to serve as his legacy. “His move was about a kid who comes from nowhere and becomes someone,” he said. “he was living that dream. He was becoming someone.”