Sydney Sweeney, the star of "Euphoria," has gone through a tough transformation to play legendary boxer Christy Martin in the upcoming film "Christy." The 27-year-old actress gained 13 kilos of muscle and trained like a professional fighter for the role.
Sweeney worked with a boxing trainer and dietitian for three months before filming started. She trained up to three times a day and changed her diet completely. The actress explained her eating habits during this time:
"We increased my calorie intake and I started having a lot of protein shakes and supplements, and eating everything. I ate a lot of Smuckers, a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, smoothies, just constantly eating because we were so active... I was burning off all the excess fat constantly at the same time. So keeping up was quite a challenge."
The training wasn't easy on Sweeney's body. While filming a scene recreating the 2003 fight between Christy Martin and Laila Ali, she got hurt:
"I got beat up.... They were putting ice packs on my face between takes. After that, I got some horrible bruises."
The filming schedule was intense. Sweeney shot boxing scenes for a whole week, often training for two hours after 12-hour shoots. She said, "That whole week was exhausting."
Christy Martin, the woman Sweeney portrays, had a tough life both in and out of the ring. She started boxing professionally at 21 and became the first woman inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1996. Martin faced personal struggles, including sexual abuse as a child, cocaine addiction, and domestic violence from her ex-husband.
In a shocking incident on November 23, 2010, Martin's ex-husband attacked her. She recalled:
"Every time I tried to get up, blood gushed out of the stab holes. And my leg, the calf, had come off the bone and was hanging there. So I lay back. And then he shot me in the chest."
Martin survived and continues to share her story. She wrote a memoir titled "Fighting for Survival: My Journey through Boxing Fame, Abuse, Murder, and Resurrection." About her life, Martin said:
"My story is about sexuality. It's about domestic violence. It's about child sexual abuse. It's about being the underdog. I mean, I'm a coal miner's daughter. I'm from a town that's literally a mile from start to finish. The length of your street, that's my town."
The film "Christy," directed by David Michod and co-starring Ben Foster, aims to bring Martin's powerful story to the big screen. Sweeney expressed her feelings about the project, saying, "I'm glad that Christy's story is being told."
For those interested in learning more about Christy Martin's life, the Netflix documentary "Untold: Deal with the Devil" offers an in-depth look at her struggles and triumphs.
