Sydney Sweeney was on hand at the Toronto Film Festival for the Friday afternoon premiere of her highly anticipated drama Christy and shed some light on how she transformed into the film’s titular boxer.
Sweeney told the festival crowd that she trained for two to three months with a boxing coach prior to filming to play real-life athlete Christy Martin. She also worked with weight trainers and a nutritionist. “I trained two to three times a day, every day, and then while I was filming, I trained, as well,” said Sweeney.
“And there was a lot of Chick-fil-A,” added director David Michôd. Sweeney confirmed, adding, “A lot of Smuckers, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes. But it was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman.”
Martin, who was on hand at the screening, is a pioneer of women’s boxing with a harrowing personal story. Onscreen, Sweeney plays Martin as she rises through the ranks of boxing, becoming one of the sport’s most recognizable female stars in the late 1980s, and as she survives spousal abuse and an attempt on her life by her husband and former trainer (played by Ben Foster).
The festival audience embraced the film and, in particular, Sweeney’s performance, giving the movie and its star a standing ovation while the credits were rolling. With Christy, Sweeney, who in recent months has been at the center of unwelcomed Internet conversations since the debut of her “good jeans” marketing campaign for American Eagle, is seen as a potential awards contender. Just yesterday, it was announced that Christy would be released in U.S. theaters on the awards-friendly date of Nov. 7.
“This was the first time I actually had someone who was around a lot,” said Michôd of working with the real-life Martin, who consulted on the film. “Maybe I went into it naively, but suddenly I went, ‘Fuck, I need to be really careful with it.’ I had a responsibility to get this right.”
For her part, Martin offered, ”Christy the boxer was just the persona, very bombastic and very egotistical, but that is not who I am. I am actually very shy and reserved. I have these two different parts of my personality, which I think is why Sydney Sweeney does this awesome job. She got to be this totally different person that none of you expected. She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy in this movie.”
Martin, whose credits include Animal Kingdom, War Machine and The King, said she would like Christy to act as inspiration for others. “I made a deal with God from the hospital: if you let me live, I would help as many people as possible,” said Martin of the aftermath of the violence committed against her. “I hope this movie does that. If a coal miner’s daughter from a 500-person town in southern West Virginia, can make it, anybody can.”
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