Sydney Sweeney was overcome with emotion while celebrating the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Christy.
“Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,” Sweeney. 27, said on Friday, September 5, per Variety. “And so being able to have her by my side during this process was a dream, but then also just scary too, because you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, we’re, we’re doing this in front of her!’”
She tearfully added, “I wasn’t quite sure. I mean, she’s the greatest boxer in the entire world, and I’m having to do hooks and hits, and I’m like, ‘I hope and do this right?’”
Sweeney portrays famed ’90s-era boxer Christy Martin in the upcoming biopic, and the two women walked the red carpet together on Friday. While 57-year-old Martin stunned in a tailored white suit, Sweeney showed off her curves in a custom Erdem blush-colored corset gown.
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During Sweeney and Martin’s movie introduction, the former pro athlete noted that the Euphoria alum completely transformed for the production.
“She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney,” Martin said. “She was the tough, rugged Christy.”
Sweeney had trained intensely to take on the titular role.
“I trained for two [or] three months before [shooting]. I had boxing coach, I had weight trainers, I had nutritionists,” Sweeney explained on Friday. I trained three times a day, every day, and then while I was filming, I trained as well.”
In addition to learning boxing maneuvers and hitting the gym, Sweeney also increased her daily caloric intake.
“Yeah, [I drank] a lot of milk shakes [and] a lot of protein shakes,” she quipped. “But, it was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman. I felt even stronger. It was truly inspiring.”
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Sweeney ultimately gained 30 pounds during her training regimen.
“I felt very strong and powerful,” she told Vanity Fair in a profile published earlier this week. “I loved it. Being able to lose myself to become a vessel for somebody else is my dream.”
Christy director David Michôd, for his part, told the magazine that Sweeney “wanted to do the work” to transform into the character.
“She wanted to train, she wanted to fight, she wanted to transform herself, and we were going to need all of that,” Michôd, 52, added. “One of the things that drew me to this story was the idea of being able to make a movie that starts, in a way, as a beautiful, wild, underdog sports movie, but then starts to shift into something that’s really harrowing and, ultimately, deeply moving.”
