Actress Sydney Sweeney graced the cover of the most recent issue of ‘Sports Illustrated’ amid her press run after the release of her boxing movie, ‘Christy’.
Sweeney adorned the front of the magazine, alongside Christy Salters Martin, to mark her first appearance on the cover.
The ‘Euphoria’ star played the titular role as Martin, the former American female boxer who was a pioneer for women in the sport and later was nearly murdered by her manager-turned-husband, James.
In the cover story, Sweeney described meeting Martin and how she learned of her journey through the ranks of boxing and her days out of the ring – leading up to being stabbed and shot multiple times by James, but still surviving.
‘I was very surprised I didn’t know who she was,’ the 28-year-old Sweeney – who wore a diamond tennis necklace from Brilliant Earth on the cover – told the outlet.
She added, ‘When I actually got to meet her and get to know her, it’s so inspiring to see how caring and delightful and full of happiness and joy that she is, even though she’s overcome so much.
‘The person she is now—it reminds me that no matter what happens, if you always lead with kindness, then you’re on the right path.’
Sweeney also described what it was like to train for the movie – choosing to do so near her home in Idaho rather than back in Los Angeles.
‘I knew that if I kept training in L.A. or anywhere else, people would start taking photos of me,’ she said.
‘I wanted to go home. I could disappear, not worry about the outside world and just fully immerse myself in it.’
The movie did not perform well at the box office – earning just short of $2million worldwide on a budget of $15million.
Despite the poor financial numbers, Sweeney posted to her Instagram account, ‘If Christy gave even one woman the courage to take her first step toward safety, then we will have succeeded.
She added, ‘We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact. And Christy has been the most impactful project of my life.’
