Sydney Sweeney is revealing just how far she went to embody legendary boxer Christy Martin in the upcoming biopic directed by David Michôd.
In a new interview with W Magazine, the Euphoria star, 27, opened up about her intense physical transformation for the role that included significant muscle gain and a major shift in body size.
Sweeney, who typically wears a size 23 in jeans — roughly a U.S. size 00 or 000, with a 23-inch waist and 33–34-inch hips — didn’t hold back when discussing the toll and triumph of the process.
“I’m usually a size 23 in jeans,” the actress shared, reflecting on her transformation.
To prepare for the role, she committed to an extreme training regimen. “I came onboard to play Christy, and I had about three-and-a-half months of training,” she explained. “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,” she continued. “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.”
Sweeney is portraying Martin, a trailblazing figure in women’s boxing known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
Martin rose to fame after her electrifying 1996 bout with Deirdre Gogarty at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas — a moment credited with putting women’s boxing on the map. Behind the scenes, however, Martin endured two decades of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, trainer Jim Martin, before surviving a brutal attack in 2010. She later came out as a lesbian.
While speaking to TMZ about the project, Martin expressed excitement over Sweeney taking on her story.
“I want this movie to bring awareness to domestic violence, the challenge of sexuality and overall underdog story,” Martin said. “I am a coal miner’s daughter from a small town in southern West Virginia that made an impact in a sport that wasn’t taken seriously — women’s boxing.”
The biopic does not yet have a release date.
