Sydney Sweeney’s latest film may be the key to bringing the focus back to her acting talents, rather than the controversy over the American Eagle jeans/genes spectacle.
The actress, 27, fought back tears after the screening of Christy, which made its debut on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Wearing an Erdem blush-colored corset gown, Sweeney wept openly as she praised boxer Christy Martin, whom she portrayed on the big screen.
‘Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,’ she said the to former welterweight champion.
‘And so being able to have her by my side during this process was a dream, but then also just scary too, because you’re like, “Oh my gosh. Like, we’re, we’re doing this in front of her!”‘
‘And I wasn’t quite sure. I mean, she’s the greatest boxer in the entire world, and I’m having to do hooks and hits, and I’m like, I hope and do this, right?’ per Variety.
Sydney Sweeney, 27, fought back tears after the screening of Christy, which made it’s debut on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival
‘She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy,’ Martin, 57, said of the actress’ portrayal.
Sweeney explained the dedication she brought to the role, revealing, ‘I trained for two, three months before [shooting]. I had boxing coach, I had weight trainers, I had nutritionists. I trained three times a day, every day, and then while I was filming, I trained as well.’
The petite star bulked up by drinking ‘a lot of milk shakes, a lot of protein shakes.’
She said it was ‘incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman. I felt even stronger. It was truly inspiring.’
The great reception is a win for the Euphoria star, who has been plagued by controversy since the release of the Sydney Sweeney has good genes/jeans campaign was launched by American Eagle in late July.
Some critics claimed the ads featuring the blue-eyed blonde was a throwback to eugenics, a discredited scientific theory popular among white supremacists.
However, an analysis by The New York Times found it was right-wing media that forwarded the controversy for headlines after a ‘smattering of accounts with relatively few followers’ criticized it.
Sweeney, who broke up with her fiancé Jonathan Davino in March, has reportedly embarked on a ‘casual romance’ with Scooter Braun, whom Taylor Swift feuded with over her music masters for years.
Swift has since re-recorded all of her music from those albums, releasing her Taylor’s Version of each.
The actress portrays welterweight champion Christy Martin, 57, in the biopic scheduled to open in theaters November 7
‘Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,’ she said the to former champ after the screening, according to Variety
‘She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy,’ Martin, 57, said of the actress’ portrayal; Pictured in Toronto on Friday
The actress is still being plagued by the ‘Sydney Sweeney has good genes/jeans’ controversy. The New York Times found it was sparked by right-wing media after a few liberal social media accounts criticized it
Sweeney is reportedly dating controversial record executive Scooter Braun, 44. Taylor Swift had a years long fight with Bruan after he bought the masters to her first six albums
People reported Sweeney and Braun spent Labor Day weekend together at Lake Tahoe.
And in a sort of full circle moment, Swift’s fiancé, Travis Kelce, released his own collaboration with American Eagle one day after the couple announced their engagement.
Sweeney’s two most recent film, Americana and Eden have not fared well at the box office, but it doesn’t seem to be because she is in them, but rather because the movies have received lackluster reviews from critics and audiences.
Does Sweeney still have star power? That question will be answered when Christy opens in theaters on November 7.
