Sydney Sweeney says stepping into a boxing ring changed her life, but she needed to do it 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. christian.
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 really are,” he explained in a new illustrated sports interview published on December 9.
Sweeney shared that he relates deeply to Salters Martin, who spent years fighting both inside the ring and in his personal life, while hiding the trauma of an abusive relationship from the world.
The actress has faced constant scrutiny over her appearance since she rose to fame.
That pressure made it even more important for her to train privately.
“I knew that if I kept training in Los Angeles or anywhere else, people would start taking photos of me,” he said.
Instead, he returned home to Idaho, where he trained in a boxing gym built inside his grandmother’s shed.
“I wanted to come home. I could disappear, not worry about the outside world and just completely immerse myself in it.”
Sweeney gained 30 pounds with creatine, protein shakes and Uncrustables to authentically represent the fighter.
She learned kickboxing and MMA moves and performed most of her fight scenes herself.
“I really wanted to fight,” he said, adding that he fell in love with the sport and even considered leaving acting to train directly with Salters Martin.
She laughed at the mention of that idea, but admitted that boxing makes her feel powerful.
“It feels like a superpower,” he added, describing the thrill that comes from never knowing what will come next in the ring.
While Christy earned just $1.3 million in its first weekend in November, Sweeney believes it’s its impact that matters.
The film explores the escape of Salters Martin who almost died when her ex-husband and trainer, Jim Martin, shot her in 2010 and left her for dead. She survived and then committed herself to helping others tell their stories.
