Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney revealed that she endured constant blows while filming the biopic about boxing legend Christy Martin — a role that required her to gain more than 13 kilograms.\
The biographical film, titled Christy, began shooting in September 2024 and is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025. In the movie, Sweeney portrays the famous American boxer who survived a horrific knife and gun attack from her husband and trainer, Jim Martin. After the traumatic event, Christy Martin came out as gay and later married her former opponent, Lisa Holewyne.
To embody the role, Sweeney underwent a complete physical transformation: wearing a dark wig, brown contact lenses, and gaining over 13 kilograms. She trained intensively for three months with a boxing coach, combining weightlifting with a special nutrition plan.
“I drank protein shakes, ate countless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and even fast food like Chick-fil-A and milkshakes. Eating so much while training nonstop made maintaining the weight a huge challenge,” Sweeney told Variety.
Not only did she change her appearance, but Sweeney also had to endure real physical impact in the ring. During the recreation of the 2003 fight between Christy Martin and Laila Ali — daughter of the legendary Muhammad Ali — she was badly bruised and even took a direct punch that left her with a black eye.
“I was getting hit nonstop. They had to ice my face between takes. That whole week was extremely brutal,” the 27-year-old actress recalled.
Sweeney also revealed her exhausting schedule: “I filmed for 12 hours a day, then trained for another two hours afterward. The entire process was absolutely draining.”
Directed by David Michôd, the film also stars Ben Foster as Jim Martin. The project has already received strong early praise from critics ahead of its November release, with some even predicting that Sweeney could be in contention for an Oscar nomination.