I can't control how others perceive me': Sydney Sweeney on boxing, weight gain and her flair for controversy

"Every fight that you see, we're hitting each other, says the 28-year-old cheerily. I had concussions, there were some bloody noses. Were the concussions frightening? Nah, I loved it! The lady who played Laila Ali Muhammad Ali's daughter, who defeated Martin by knockout in 2003 is an actual professional boxer. She's in the air force and fights for Team USA she hit hard and it was very, very real. She's how I got my concussion."

"But when it came to bulking up she gained two-and-a-half stone to match Martin's fighting weight of 135 to 137lbs she had a buddy. On set, Sweeney kindly shared her calorific snack of choice, Uncrustables (this quintessentially American product, which Sweeney ate endlessly, is essentially a small frozen jam sandwich with the crusts cut off), with her co-star Ben Foster. He also consumed a lot of burritos in order better to resemble Martin's boxing promoter husband Jim. It worked."

"Sweeney felt she truly became a fighter. It was such an exhilarating feeling. In between takes, I'd be like: I think I won that round!' I became a fighter' in Christy. Photograph: Black Bear In the ring, Sweeney was essentially cut loose from the rest of the production (Michod says the fighting was a thing that I had very little to do with; it became a negotiation between Sydney and the stunt performers)."

The biopic recreates Christy Martin's mid-1990s rise and stages many of her real-life fights with authentic physicality. Sydney Sweeney performed and took real hits during fight scenes, sustaining concussions and bloody noses while experiencing an invigorating sense of becoming a fighter. The actress gained two-and-a-half stone to reach Martin's fighting weight and relied on Uncrustables as a calorific snack on set. A co-star, Ben Foster, ate burritos to inhabit the promoter role. The woman portraying Laila Ali is an actual professional boxer and Team USA fighter, and fight choreography became a negotiation between Sweeney and stunt performers.

Read at www.theguardian.com