Sydney Sweeney fully committed to accurately portraying boxer Christy Martin in her upcoming biopic.
Sweeney, 27, put her body transformation fully on display in the trailer for Christy, which dropped on Thursday, September 11. The actress portrays Martin, 57, a professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2012 and made history as the first female boxer elected to the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame.
The trailer depicts Martin’s hot start in the industry after growing up in Mullens, West Virginia, and her journey to becoming a world champion. There’s already a ton of Oscar buzz surrounding the biopic, with many praising Sweeney for her dynamic performance and commitment to the role.
Sweeney talks in a southern accent as she gets into the ring as Martin and finds her voice. She takes several hard hits, goes for a jog and trains hard before declaring, “I spent half my life hiding. It’s my house. It’s my things. It’s my dream.”
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“This is giving off Million Dollar Baby vibes and I love it,” one person commented underneath the YouTube trailer, while another said, “Saw the premier [sic] at TIFF, it was pretty amazing. Wasn’t familiar with Christy’s story, what a warrior. Definitely recommended watch.”
Christy also stars Ben Foster as Martin’s ex-husband, James V. Martin, Merritt Wever as Martin’s mom, Joyce Salters, Ethan Embry as Martin’s father, John Salters, Katy O’Brian as Martin’s opponent Lisa Holewyne, Chad L. Coleman as boxing promoter Don King, Bill Kelly as Tennessee promoter Larry and Bryan Hibbard as Martin’s ringside team member Big Jeff.
Sweeney, who dons an array of brown wigs in the film to hide her blonde locks, previously opened up about gaining 30 pounds for the role.
“I absolutely loved it,” she said about her weight gain during a recent panel at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I truly felt Christy’s power as I transformed. And I really enjoyed being able to train and work with incredible boxing coaches and weight trainers and nutritionists that helped me get to the place that I was for Christy.”
Sweeney revealed that she bulked up by training hard multiple times a day.
“I trained for two or three months before I had a boxing coach,” she said at the film’s world premiere at TIFF on September 5. “I had weight trainers, I had nutritionists, I trained three times a day every day and then while I was filming, I trained as well.”
Director David Michôd chimed in to say, “And there was a lot of Chick-fil-A.”
Sweeney said she ate “a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes” to gain weight, adding, “But it was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman.”
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Sweeney held back tears as she stood alongside Martin after the film’s premiere and addressed the audience.
“As you can tell, she’s such a special and incredible human being, and her story deserves to be told,” she said. “Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored.”
Sweeney continued, “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, we’re doing this in front of her.’”
Christy will be out in theaters on November 7.
