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Sydney Sweeney Is Unrecognizable In Her New Movie About Boxer Christy Martin

Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria HBO
By Valerie Ettenhofer

Filming on Sydney Sweeney's still-untitled boxing biopic project is underway, and The Daily Mail is already doing its typical tabloid thing –- snapping photos from the set, including a slightly blurry first look at Sweeney's transformation into real-life boxer Christy Martin.

Back in May, producers told Deadline the project was set to be a sort of "female Rocky," and if that is the case, the first images from the movie's set seem to show Sweeney's Martin in full training montage mode. The actor has short, curly, dark hair, a very '90s headband, and a baggy sweat suit complete with athletic shoes in these paparazzi set shots. She doesn't look much like any character the typically blonde-haired "Euphoria" and "Immaculate" star has played before, although she does bear a fairly striking resemblance to the actual Martin, the former super welterweight title holder she'll be bringing to life in the film. Given the acting chops Sweeney has shown off in her biggest projects — not to mention underrated dramas like last year's "Reality" — we have no doubt she'll do the real-world figure justice.

Sweeney is playing a boxer with an intense true story

Sydney Sweeney, Reality HBO

The true story of Martin's life goes far beyond a simple underdog sport saga; as The Daily Mail notes, in 2010 Martin was the subject of a brutal attack by her then-husband and manager, who is currently serving a decades-long sentence for her attempted second degree murder in a Florida prison. Martin survived being both stabbed and shot, and she went on to be welcomed into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. She also went on to marry Women's Boxing Hall of Famer Lisa Holewyne, whom she had faced off against during her in-ring career, according to The Guardian. "I want this movie to bring awareness to domestic violence, the challenge of sexuality, and [an] overall underdog story," Martin told TMZ after news of Sweeney's casting broke.

The untitled biopic is directed by David Michôd, whose past works include the Timothee Chalamet-led epic "The King" and the acclaimed, gritty crime drama "Animal Kingdom," which inspired a TNT series of the same name. "I have a history of making movies about damaged men and I'd been wanting to make a film about a woman with a ferocious energy inside her," Michôd told Deadline, praising the real Martin's "ferocity." Sweeney, meanwhile, said in the same report that she was eager to get back into martial arts for the project. "I grappled and did kickboxing from 12-19 years old," she said. "I've been itching to get back into the ring, train, and transform my body. Christy's story isn't a light one, it's physically and emotionally demanding, there's a lot of weight to carry."

Sweeney also praised Martin directly, saying the athlete and survivor "not only legitimized female boxing, she overcame gender stereotypes, and fought through emotional, physical, and financial abuse." There's no word yet on when the Christy Martin biopic will debut, but it's expected to go to the Cannes marketplace to find a distributor.

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