Sydney Sweeney‘s Instagram grid most recently went viral when she posted a photo of her derriere on a boat with the caption ‘I think they call this a thirst trap”. Social media was trapped, and for five seconds, every woman and her boyfriend were fighting about fire reactions in the comments section.
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Sweeney shared the photos, saying paparazzi had already leaked images from a film she’s currently shooting. She said she’s working on an as yet untitled biopic about famous women’s boxer Christy Martin, which has involved gaining a whole lot of muscle.
In the post Sweeney wrote she’s been “immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman.” She added that Martin, who competed during the 90s and is considered a trailblazer for women in boxing, was “a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring. Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honoured to step into her shoes and share her powerful story with you all.”
According to Deadline, David Michôd, famous for Animal Kingdom, will direct the biopic. Sweeney, of course, became famous playing troubled teen Cassie on Euphoria and acerbic rich-kid Olivia Mossbacher on Season 1 of The White Lotus.
She’s since starred in the hit romantic comedy Anyone But You and has dipped her toe into grittier roles in the horror movie Immaculate and American crime drama Reality.
Here’s Everything We Know About Sydney Sweeney’s Turn As Christy Martin
Christy Martin is credited with taking women’s boxing mainstream. She was the first female competitor to be signed with legendary promoter Don King and went undefeated for a decade, but life her life outside the ring was marred by abuse.
Christy Martin’s Boxing Career
In 1991, Martin started training professionally after winning amateur mixed rounds in boxing in West Virginia. According to The New York Times she teamed up with a trainer named Jim Martin and a year later became engaged to him.
For Martin there was no roadmap for success as a female boxer. She told NYT: “I just kept fighting. I just kept growing.” In 1996, she defeated boxer Deirdre Gogarty; the fight was featured on Showtime and gained attention; she got a spot on Sports Illustrated that sold out globally, and she became famous. The experience was unanticipated. “I’m walking by a Versace store, and these people who worked there came out onto the street and asked for my autograph,” she said of a walk down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills following the fight. “It was crazy to me.”
What Happened To Christy Martin?
Christy was never comfortable with fame, though, largely because behind the scenes, her husband, Jim Martin, was abusing her emotionally, physically and financially. “He told me the boxing world hated me, that my family hated me, that I didn’t have any fans. Athletes have heavy egos, but they’re fragile. It didn’t take long for him to break me,” she told The New York Times. This pattern continued for 20 years, and she found solace in the ring. But Jim Martin controlled her by threatening to share her secret. When they were first training together, Martin had told Jim she was gay, something he chose to ignore at the time.
In 2010, Christy Martin was nearing the end of her career, and the pressure her secret had held on her was loosening. She decided to leave her husband when she reconnected with a former girlfriend.
She was still living with her husband in Florida when she heard him on the phone telling someone she was leaving him for a woman. He was sharpening a knife. Jim then walked into the bedroom and stabbed her multiple times before shooting her with her pink-handled 9-millimeter glock.
Despite her wounds, Martin escaped and survived, and the story exploded. Just two years later, Jim Martin was sentenced to 25 years in prison, and the world learned her secret. “Jim had convinced me that if the world found out I was gay, I would lose everything, and really just the opposite happened,” she told The New York Times, “I’m comfortable with my own skin. I don’t have to hide. I am who I am.”
In 2017, Christy Martin married her former sparring partner, Lisa Holewyne. In 2020, she was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Now, she runs a boxing promotion company and a charity called Christy’s Champs. This non-profit assists victims and survivors of domestic violence.
The article appeared first on ELLE.
