Sydney Sweeney was brought to tears while reflecting on her role as legendary boxer Christy Martin after the premiere of Christy at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
In footage shared by People, Sweeney grew emotional onstage as she spoke about the weight of portraying Martin, who was standing beside her.
“Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,” Sweeney said, per Variety. “And so 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. Like, we’re doing this in front of her!'”
In her W Magazine sit-down with Lynn Hirschberg, Sydney Sweeney revealed she trained relentlessly for Christy, working out every day for about three and a half months. Her routine included an hour of weight training in the morning and night, plus two hours of kickboxing. The actress even packed on over 30 pounds for the role.
At TIFF, Sweeney shared that her diet was heavy on “a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes,” with director David Michôd chiming in, “And there was a lot of Chick-fil-A.”
“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,” Sweeney told Hirschberg with a laugh. “But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.”
Her striking physical transformation, paired with her performance as Christy Martin, is already drawing glowing reviews.
“Sweeney delivers, and then some, putting her all into this sometimes extremely dark tale, and really does show she has the acting chops to pull it off, as if we didn’t already know,” wrote Deadline’s Pete Hammond.
“Yes, she impresses in how she believably embodies being a boxer, but it’s the small character details where she really shines,” added TheWrap’s Chase Hutchinson. “Be it in a smile in the ring or an impassioned speech, we feel the nuances in her performance that the film itself is often lacking.”
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland praised, “Sweeney disappears into the role, not just changing her hair color, eye color, accent, and way of moving, but her general air, her overall mien, the space she takes up in a room.”
Christy hits theaters on Nov. 7.
