Sydney Sweeney got here to the Toronto International Film Festival wanting to speak about her new movie Christy, not her American Eagle advert marketing campaign. After a rapturous response to the film, she’s getting her want.
The 27-year-old, Emmy-nominated actor landed fast Oscar buzz for her efficiency in David Michôd’s biopic of the boxer Christy Salters Martin. For the function, Sweeney transforms into the feminine boxing trailblazer who emerged out of West Virginia because the Coal Miner’s Daughter to rise to the highest of her then-nascent sport.
Following a rousing reception from the TIFF viewers on Friday, Sweeney stood beside Martin on the stage of the Princess of Wales Theatre, calling it the expertise of her life.
“It was a dream come true, as an actor, as a person,” Sweeney stated.
While Martin had a profession embellished with belts and a Sports Illustrated cowl, her story is outlined by wrestle. She was raised to disclaim her homosexual id and as a substitute married her coach, Jim Martin. After years of psychological and bodily abuse, he tried to kill her in 2010, repeatedly stabbing her and taking pictures her. Jim Martin was sentenced to 25 years in jail. He died final November.
Sweeney’s efficiency alongside Ben Foster, who performs Jim Martin, was swiftly hailed as her greatest but. TIFF has lengthy been a launching pad for Oscar campaigns earlier than, and the thunderous reception for Christy, and significantly Sweeney, appeared positive so as to add her to the awards dialog.
Regardless, Christy offers Sweeney the perfect big-screen showcase but of her quickly evolving profession. And provided that she seems all through it briefly darkish hair with a extra muscular construct, it is also her grittiest and least glamorous efficiency to this point.
Martin, praising Sweeney, defined how her boxing persona — bombastic, egotistical — didn’t mirror her shyness or her want to assist others. Since her near-death expertise, Martin has labored to assist home violence survivors
“I have those two parts of my personality. And I think that’s why Sydney Sweeney is doing such an awesome job,” stated Martin. “She got to be this totally different person that none of you expected. She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy.”
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Going into the premiere, Sweeney deflected questions on her current American Eagle advert marketing campaign with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” — a pun on having “great genes.” Critics accused the advert for glorifying whiteness. The retailer has stated the marketing campaign “is and always was about the jeans.”
Ahead of the competition, Sweeney informed Vanity Fair she was going to TIFF to assist her film. “I’m not there to talk about jeans,” she stated. “The movie’s about Christy and that’s what I’ll be there to talk about.”
Christy will likely be launched in theatres on November 7 by its co-producer Black Bear within the firm’s first foray into distribution. Sweeney additionally serves as a producer on Christy, with Martin a marketing consultant.
Sweeney stated she educated 3 times a day for 2 to a few months to organize for the boxing scenes. She had a boxing coach, a nutritionist and weight trainers. “And a lot of Chick-fil-A,” she added. “A lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes.”
“But it was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman,” stated Sweeney. “I felt even stronger.”
