Sydney Sweeney will play boxer Christy Martin in a biopic directed by filmmaker David Michôd.
The biographical film starring actress Euphoria, 26, as the Hall of Fame boxer, 55, will be released at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, according to reports Deadlinewho broke the casting news.
The Emmy-nominated actress shared a link to the Deadline article confirming her upcoming role and said she was “honored to tell Christy’s powerful story.”
The Spokane, Washington, native spoke with the outlet about the experience she brings to the role in terms of combat sports and the enthusiasm she brings to the boxing project.
“I wrestled and kickboxed from the ages of 12 to 19,” Sweeney told Deadline. ‘I’ve been looking forward to getting back in the ring, training and transforming my body.
Sydney Sweeney, 26, will play boxer Christy Martin, 55, in a biopic directed by filmmaker David Michôd
‘Christy’s story is not light, it is physically and emotionally demanding, there is a lot of weight to carry. But I love challenging myself.’
The Euphoria actress professed her admiration for Martin and her credentials, saying, “Christy Martin not only legitimized women’s boxing, she overcame gender stereotypes and fought against emotional, physical and financial abuse.”
“I am passionate about the world of wrestling, Christy’s story sheds light on her incredible rise to the top while showing the struggles of fame behind the scenes.”
The White Lotus alum said she felt “compelled to tell a story about a woman who faced so much adversity and didn’t let it defeat her,” calling her life story “powerful and emotional.”
Director Michôd, whose previous credits include War Machine, Animal Kingdom and The Rover, said Martin’s rise to prominence in the boxing world in the 1990s creates a story that the film’s producers compared to that of a ‘Rocky woman’ Balboa.
Michôd told the outlet: “I have a history of making films about damaged men and I wanted to make a film about a woman with a fierce energy within her.”
‘When I came across Christy Martin’s story two years ago I knew I had found her. “The ferocity of her is intelligible and justifiable and the public will long for her because of the circumstances she was forced to endure.”
Sweeney has been on a career roll, having recently appeared in the 2023 romantic comedy Everyone But You alongside Glen Powell; and she starred in the horror film Immaculate.
Martin was seen in battle in March 1996 in Paradise, Nevada, at the MGM Grand.
Sweeney said that “Martin not only legitimized women’s boxing, she overcame gender stereotypes and fought emotional, physical and financial abuse.” Photographed in Las Vegas in 1996.
Martin was seen training in Las Vegas in October 1995.
Martin was photographed in the ring at a boxing event she promoted in August 2020 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Michôd said the film “is about Christy as a young gay woman in a small town in Virginia in the 1990s” and how she used sports as an outlet for her emotions.
“The film is about Christy as a young gay woman in a small town in Virginia in the 1990s,” Michôd said. “She came from a relatively conservative family and she wasn’t allowed to be who she was, so she used boxing as a vehicle to express herself and her anger.”
Michôd, who wrote the script with Mirrah Foulkes, said the film will also detail Martin’s troubled first marriage to James V. Martin, who stabbed her in a November 2010 attack in Apopka, Florida.
James V. Martin was subsequently sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison following his conviction for attempted second-degree murder in 2012.
Michôd said the boxer “had to make some fundamental and dangerous compromises in her life, the most important of which was marrying an incredibly dangerous man.”
Martin, who was Don King’s first female client, gained national attention in March 1996 when she captured the World Boxing Council women’s lightweight championship in a bloody fight in Las Vegas against Deirdre Gogarty.
Martin, nicknamed The Miner’s Daughter, was on the undercard of the infamous 1997 fight in which Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear.
She is also the only female boxer to have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.
The film will also detail Martin’s troubled first marriage to James V. Martin, who is in prison after he stabbed her in a November 2010 attack in Apopka, Florida. Photographed in Auburn Hills, Michigan in October 1993.
Sweeney said she felt “compelled to tell a story about a woman who faced so much adversity and didn’t let it defeat her,” calling her life story “powerful and emotional.”
She also fought Laila Ali, the daughter of the late boxing icon Muhammad Ali, in a high-profile fight in 2003 in which Laila knocked her out.
According CajaRec, Martin has a record of 49-7-3, winning more than half of his contests with 31 career knockouts. Her last fight was a 2012 loss to Mia St. John.
Martin’s life story has been explored for a film project before, as actress Amy Schumer was linked to a film about the boxer in April 2018.