Sydney Sweeney says that stepping into a boxing ring changed her life, but she needed to do it far away from Hollywood.
The actress, 28, opened up about why she avoided Los Angeles while training for her role as real-life boxing icon Christy Salters Martin in the 2025 film Christy.
For Sweeney, it was a chance to disappear, focus and shed the glamorous image that many fans assume defines her.
“The perception is that the media version of who you are is who you actually are,” she explained in a new Sports Illustrated interview published December 9.
Sweeney shared that she relates deeply to Salters Martin, who spent years fighting both inside the ring and in her personal life, while hiding the trauma of an abusive relationship from the world.
The actress has dealt with constant scrutiny over her appearance since rising to fame.
That pressure made it even more important for her to train privately.
“I knew that if I kept training in L.A. or anywhere else, people would start taking photos of me,” she said.
Instead, she returned home to Idaho, where she trained in a boxing gym built inside her grandmother’s shed.
“I wanted to go home. I could disappear, not worry about the outside world and just fully immerse myself in it.”
Sweeney gained 30 pounds through creatine, protein shakes and Uncrustables to authentically portray the fighter.
She learned kickboxing and MMA moves, performing most of her fight scenes herself.
“I wanted to actually fight,” she said, adding that she fell in love with the sport and has even considered stepping away from acting to train directly with Salters Martin.
She laughed when mentioning that idea but admitted boxing makes her feel powerful.
“It feels like a superpower,” she added, describing the thrill that comes with never knowing what’s coming next in the ring.
While Christy earned just $1.3 million its opening weekend in November, Sweeney believes its impact is what matters.
The film explores Salters Martin’s near-death escape when her ex-husband and trainer, Jim Martin, shot her in 2010 and left her for dead. She survived and later committed to helping others tell their stories.
