TORONTO, Canada – From donning a prosthetic penis to simulating bizarre sex work in a steamy motel room, Sydney Sweeney was “up for anything” while filming her Oscar-tipped role in boxing drama Christy, said its director.
The 27-year-old American actress, who has made negative headlines recently for controversial jeans advertisements, has become a contender for the Academy Awards for her portrayal of pioneering American female fighter Christy Martin.
The movie had its world premiere on Sept 5 at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Sweeney’s performance and physical transformation drew glowing reviews.
Though ostensibly a boxing biopic, Christy swiftly develops into a surprisingly dark tale of domestic abuse and misogynistic control, as Sweeney’s pugilist falls under the jealous and violent sway of her coach and husband Jim (Ben Foster).
As well as visceral and bloody battles in the boxing ring, the film calls on Sweeney to take on many daring and deeply unglamorous scenes.
“Whatever the movie needs, she’ll go there. She’s just fearless,” said Australian film-maker David Michod.
In one scene, her character is coerced by her husband into shooting a disturbing homemade sex video involving a fake penis.
In another, he essentially pimps her out to a man who pays for a highly sexualised grapple in a motel room, which makes for difficult viewing.
In real life, a broke Jim really did “set up these scenarios where men would pay to spar with her”, explained Michod.
“She wasn’t having sex with these guys… But it’s a kind of weird sex work.”
It is all a far cry from Sweeney’s glamorous public persona.
Having broken through with roles in acclaimed HBO series Euphoria (2019 to present) and The White Lotus (2021 to present), the in-demand actress had become the lucrative face of several brands.
Most notably, a series of American Eagle clothing ads proclaiming the blue-eyed and blonde-haired star “has great jeans” were accused of evoking eugenics and even having white supremacist undertones.
An electronic billboard displays an American Eagle ad campaign featuring Sydney Sweeney in New York on Aug 21.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Sweeney swiftly shut down any questions on the topic at the Toronto premiere of Christy, but Michod said the controversy had never fazed her.
“Sydney is a creature of the internet. She has a way of just moving through this stuff. I mean, yeah, she’s healthily ambitious and she’s very good at what she does.
“She’s out there in the world. And I’m actually very admiring of her, and I’ve stopped worrying about things that I can’t control.”
The brouhaha does not appear likely to impede Sweeney’s nascent Oscar bid. Christy is set for release in November – a prime slot for awards campaigns.
“A lot of Chick-fil-A, a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes,” Sweeney said of gaining weight to alter her appearance. “I trained three times a day, every day.”
Perhaps more impressively, she is called upon to play Martin across more than 20 years of her life, from a vulnerable and naive teenage ingenue to a grizzled abuse survivor.
Martin, 57, in Toronto for the premiere, gushed over Sweeney’s transformative performance.
“She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy in this movie, and I think it’s awesome.”
American actor Foster, 44, also offered effusive praise for his co-star.
“Sydney is a smokehouse. She’s the real deal,” he said. “She puts in the work. I think you all will be mind-blown by what she does in this film.” AFP
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