Sydney Sweeney’s incredible body transformation to play boxing legend Christy Martin blew everyone away, including herself.
Over the last couple of years, Sweeney has emerged as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, appearing in the critically acclaimed HBO series Euphoria and producing box office hits like Anyone But You and Immaculate. But when Sweeney signed on to play Martin, a former WBC super welterweight titleholder, it was unlike any experience she’d had while preparing for a role.
“I loved it,” Sweeney told W magazine. “I came onboard to play Christy, and I had about three and a half months of training. I started eating. I weight-trained in the morning for an hour, kickboxed midday for about two hours, and then weight-trained again at night for an hour.”
The change in both her diet and training regimen resulted in Sweeney packing on 30 pounds of muscle. Suddenly, she found herself unable to fit into most of her clothes.
It also had a significant impact on some of Sweeney’s more favored features among fans.
“My body was completely different,” Sweeney continued. “I didn’t fit in any of my clothes. I’m usually a size 23 in jeans, and I was wearing a size 27. My boobs got bigger. And my butt got huge. It was crazy! I was like, Oh my god But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.”
Sydney Sweeney Shares her love for sports
Sweeney, of course, is no stranger to the world of combat sports. She’s appeared at multiple UFC events over the years and has spoken extensively about the BJJ training she engaged in as a teenager.
“My mom told me from a very young age to fall in love with as many things as possible,” Sweeney said. “And so I did fall in love, again and again: I love sports. I love being outside. I was on the ski team, and I wakeboarded. I slalom ski on water. I was on the soccer team and the softball team.
“And then my parents got me into grappling, which is like wrestling, and kickboxing. I was the only girl at the dojo. I trained there from 13 until about 19. I fought all guys. I liked to think that if sh*t went down, I might be able to step up.”
A multi-time champion, Martin was one of the first women ever inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. During her 23-year career, she went 49-7 with 32 of his wins coming by way of KO/TKO.
No release date has been announced for the biopic starring Sweeney.
