Sydney Sweeney Gives Emotional Speech at TIFF Premiere of ‘Christy’

Sydney Sweeney was moved to tears while reflecting on portraying boxer Christy Martin following the premiere of Christy at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

In a video shared by People, Sweeney can be seen getting emotional onstage, while discussing the challenges that came with playing Martin, as she stood nearby.

“Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational,” she said, as transcribed by Variety. “And so being able to have her by my side during this process was a dream, but then also just scary too, because you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, we’re, we’re doing this in front of her!'”

In an interview with Lynn Hirschberg for W Magazine, Sweeney revealed she trained daily for “about three and a half months,” which consisted of an hour of weight-training in the morning and night, as well as kickboxing for about two hours. The actress gained more than 30 pounds for the role.

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According to People, Sweeney shared onstage at TIFF that her diet involved “a lot of Smucker’s, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes,” with Christy director David Michôd adding, “And there was a lot of Chick-fil-A.”

“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,” Sweeney told Hirschberg, laughing. “But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.”

Sweeney’s on-screen portrayal of Martin, coupled with her physical transformation, has earned her rave reviews.

“Sweeney delivers, and then some, putting her all into this sometimes extremely dark tale, and really does show she has the acting chops to pull it off, as if we didn’t already know,” Deadline chief film critic Pete Hammond wrote in his review.

“Yes, she impresses in how she believably embodies being a boxer, but it’s the small character details where she really shines,” TheWrap TV and film critic Chase Hutchinson wrote. “Be it in a smile in the ring or an impassioned speech, we feel the nuances in her performance that the film itself is often lacking.”

“Sweeney disappears into the role, not just changing her hair color, eye color, accent, and way of moving, but her general air, her overall mien, the space she takes up in a room,” IndieWire editorial director Kate Erbland wrote.

Christy will be in theaters on Nov. 7.