At final week’s premiere of “Christy,” a gritty biopic of U.S. feminine boxing pioneer Christy Martin, the movie’s star Sydney Sweeney declined to handle her current denims advert controversy that prompted a firestorm on-line.
But she was ready to speak about her waistline, particularly how she gained weight to remodel her look for a task that might make her an Academy Award contender.
“A lot of Chick-fil-A, a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes,” Sweeney instructed an adoring crowd following the world premiere on the Toronto International Film Festival. “I trained three times a day, every day.”
The movie recounts a life that director David Michod described as “incredible.”
“Particularly incredible that I’d never heard it before” till engaged on the movie, he stated.
Christy Martin, 57, was born Christine Salter within the U.S. state of West Virginia, the daughter of a coal miner.
In the late Eighties she began boxing, step by step turning into the game’s first true feminine star, backed at occasions by iconic boxing promoter Don King.
The movie addresses her efforts to suppress her sexuality as a younger lady and the abuse she suffered from her coach and eventual husband Jim Martin, performed by Ben Foster.
Martin stabbed and shot his then-wife and stays in jail over her tried homicide.
Foster stated he was “curious” about assembly Jim Martin when making ready for the position, however in the end determined that might be “disrespectful,” as an alternative shaping his efficiency across the problems with “coercive control and domestic violence.”
“Her story deserves to be told,” Sweeney stated of the fighter, who has resumed utilizing her maiden title, Salter.
“It was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman,” Sweeney stated.
Ahead of the premiere, the Emmy-nominated actress — finest identified for roles within the sequence “The White Lotus” and “Euphoria” — dodged questions in regards to the web meltdown triggered by her advert marketing campaign for the clothes model American Eagle.
Some social media customers had been outraged, saying the wordplay of the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” coupled with the actor’s blue eyes and blonde hair, has racial undertones.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My genes are blue,” Sweeney, sporting denim on denim, says in a single video.
The advert’s defenders have included President Donald Trump.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the HOTTEST advert on the market,” he posted final month on his Truth Social platform.
Salter, in Toronto for the premiere, praised Sweeney’s transformative efficiency.
“She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy in this movie and I think it’s awesome,” stated Salter, who’s now married to one in all her former boxing rivals, Lisa Holewyne.
Foster additionally provided effusive reward for his 27-year-old co-star.
“Sydney is a smokehouse. She’s the real deal,” he stated. “She puts in the work. I think you all will be mind-blown by what she does in this film.”
© 2025 AFP