To play Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby, Hilary Swank gained 19 pounds of muscle, going from being “like a feather,” in director Clint Eastwood’s words, to a boxer. She scored an Oscar for her troubles. Is it Sydney Sweeney’s turn next? Sweeney has, until now, mostly taken on roles that played off her blonde hair and famous “good genes”: a droll, pampered college student in The White Lotus; the beautiful yet insecure Cassie in Euphoria; a sarcastic and wayward romantic interest in Anyone But You. Now, she’ll try to disappear into Christy Martin in Christy, the true story of the most popular female boxer of the ’90s. Below, find everything we’ve learned about Sweeney’s potential KO.
Is there a trailer?
Ding ding! Sweeney’s long, flowing blonde hair is replaced with a ratty brown, she dresses in dowdy clothes, and, most visibly, she’s got muscles out the wazoo. Sweeney gained 30 pounds to play the role by eating “a lot of Chick-fil-A; a lot, a lot of Smucker’s; a lot of milkshakes; a lot of protein shakes,” she said at a Toronto International Film Festival Q&A, per MMA Junkie. The trailer follows Christy’s boxing career as she both wins and loses in the ring. Throughout, she navigates her controlling and abusive husband, who threatens, “If you leave, me I’ll kill you.” And it’s all set to a string-heavy version of Stevie Nicks’s “Edge of Seventeen” with a thumping beat reminiscent of the famous “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III.
What’s the real story about?
Christy follows the real story of Christy Martin, the most famous female boxer of the 1990s. Nicknamed “the Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Christy was raised in West Virginia and dated a girl, Sherry Lusk, while in high school before beginning her boxing career, per ESPN. She later married her manager, Jim Martin, when she was 22 and he was 47. During the ’90s, she was a household name, becoming the first female boxer to cover Sports Illustrated. Later, in 2010, she left Jim after getting back into contact with Lusk, and he attempted to murder her by stabbing her multiple times and shooting her once. While Jim went to jail, Christy survived and ended up marrying her former boxing rival Lisa Holewyne in 2017. The movie will cover both Christy’s initial success and her attempted murder.
Who else is in the cast?
Sweeney will be joined by Hell or High Water star Ben Foster as her husband, Jim Martin, along with Emmy winner Merritt Wever and Grace and Frankie’s Ethan Embry as her parents. Katy O’Brian, best known for her role as the bodybuilder Jackie in Love Lies Bleeding, plays Holewyne. A character named Rosie, based on Lusk, will be played by Jess Gabor, who played Kelly Keefe on Shameless. Finally, Chad L. Coleman of The Walking Dead will play boxing announcer Don King.
When is the release date?
Christy had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, where Vulture’s Joe Reid wrote that Sweeney “puts the film on her shoulders and dials into Christy’s intensity, ferocity, and the brash ego that made her boxing’s most popular ambassador and her opponents’ most hated rival.” For non-Canadians, the movie will go into wide release on November 7. Step into the ring.
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Gaining 30 pounds to play a boxer in Christy.
