Sydney Sweeney went through a "crazy" transformation to portray female boxing icon Christy Martin in a new biopic set to hit theaters later this year.
During a recent interview with W Magazine, the Anyone But You star revealed that she gained more than 30 pounds to play Martin, the former WBC world champion responsible for putting women's boxing on the map.
I loved it," Sweeney said. "I came on board to play Christy, and I had about three and a half months of training. I started eating. I weight-trained in the morning for an hour, kickboxed midday for about two hours, and then weight-trained again at night for an hour.
"My body was completely different. I didn't fit in any of my clothes. I'm usually a size 23 in jeans, and I was wearing a size 27. My boobs got bigger. And my butt got huge. It was crazy! I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.
Directed by David Michôd from a script co-written by himself and Mirrah Foulkes, the yet-to-be-titled biopic will not only look at Martin's illustrious boxing career, but also the triumphs and tragedies in her personal life.
Our film is a wild mix of inspiring underdog sports-world story and personal saga," Michôd told W Magazine while discussing the project. "Sydney trained her butt off to play the part. The beauty of Sydney is that she turned up to work every day with her tail wagging, ready to go. No matter how tough it was, she was like a ray of sunshine.
Sydney Sweeney has taken hollywood by storm
Sweeney has been one of Hollywood's busiest actors in recent years. Aside from her work on the biopic, she recently wrapped production on The Housemaid, a Paul Feig-helmed adaptation which she co-produced. She is currently filming for season three of HBO's hit drama series Euphoria, as well as producing and starring in Scandalous!, a film directed by Colman Domingo about the relationship between Sammy Davis Jr. and Kim Novak.
Sweeney also announced that her Barbarella remake is in the works. There is currently no release date for the sci-fi/comedy reboot, but fans won't have to wait long to see her back on the big screen. Sweeney can be seen in Americana, releasing August 22, 2025.
Check out the official trailer below:
