"Christy: The Astonishing True Story of a Boxing Prodigy's Battle for Survival | Vanity Fair"

Christy Martin’s life story feels made for the movies. From humble beginnings, she became one of the most successful female boxers of the 1990s. She’s also a survivor, overcoming adversity and violence to become the person she was always meant to be.

In the film Christy, which opened in theaters on November 7, Sydney Sweeney plays Martin, a West Virginia native who earned the nickname “the Coal Miner’s Daughter” when she became a professional boxer at 21. During her meteoric rise in the sport, she was also covering up her true identity as a queer woman, marrying her manager, Jim Martin, who emotionally and physically abused her while siphoning off her prize money. This abuse turned life-threatening in 2010 when he stabbed and shot her, leaving her for dead. She survived the attack and eventually found a happy relationship with Lisa Holewyne, her former boxing rival.

“She was the ultimate underdog—she was fighting her biggest battle outside of the ring,” says Kerry Kohansky-Roberts, one of the film’s producers. “I felt like, how has this story not been told? Because it’s got all the elements that you look for in a film: a heroic character, a woman taking control of her life for the first time.”

Martin was at first apprehensive about having her story depicted in a movie, says Kohansky-Roberts. “People are distrusting when Hollywood calls,” she says. “So it was a matter of just listening.” Writer-director David Michôd and writer Mirrah Foulkes spent a great deal of time with Martin in order to hear her story and ensure they got it right. Martin took Foulkes around Florida, including the home where she lived with Jim and where the violent attack occurred. “I guess you always second-guess any big decision in life: ‘Is this really what I should have done?’ But I had many conversations with David and Mirrah and they gained my trust,” Martin tells Vanity Fair.

Martin was surprised at first to hear that Sweeney, best known at the time for her roles on Euphoria and the rom-com Anyone But You, would play her in the film. “She’s shiny and she’s sexy Sydney, and beautiful and all those things,” says Martin. “How is she going to get down and dirty and be Christy Martin?” But Sweeney put in the work, spending months learning to box and gaining more than 30 pounds for the role. “I felt very strong and powerful,” Sweeney previously told Vanity Fair. “I loved it. Being able to lose myself to become a vessel for somebody else is my dream.”

Martin and Sweeney on set.

Martin was impressed with Sweeney’s portrayal of her. “I am blown away by her performance and transformation,” adds Martin, “But I think she [also] gets me—I think you feel that when you watch the movie.” It wasn’t just the physical change that Sweeney tapped into, but Martin’s spirit. “They both have this inner firebomb of passion that you can’t put out,” says Kohansky-Roberts. “It just instinctually felt very right.”

The production made every effort to recreate costumes, locations, and fight choreography—down to the details. Many of the photos lining the walls are from Pat Orr, who was Martin’s photographer in her heyday. The team also found authentic items from thrift shops to decorate a set depicting Don King’s office, and many of Martin’s costumes were recreated to look and feel like her signature boxing looks.

As for Sweeney, she wasn’t afraid to really fight in the ring, as she previously told Vanity Fair, which left her bruised and concussed. “Syd wanted to be hit,” says Kohansky-Roberts. “Syd has a real strong hook just like Christy did, and there were times where people were really bloodied.”

One of the only major changes made to Martin’s story was the character named Rosie. In the film, Rosie is Christy’s high school girlfriend, but Christy is pressured to break off the relationship and keep her interest in women a secret. Rosie comes back into her life years later when she needs help getting out of her violent marriage.

Rosie is actually based on a couple of different women in Martin’s life, including Sherry Lusk, Martin’s real high school girlfriend. “It was tough because I fought for Sherry Lusk to stay in the movie for a long time, as long as I could fight,” says Martin. “I fought for her because I felt she was very important and played a big role. But for movie reasons, they had to combine some characters, and she was one of those that got combined.”

Martin was on set for much of the filming of Christy, but didn’t attend on the days on which they filmed the violent attack. Because of the production schedule, these graphic scenes—which are revealed toward the end of the film—had to be shot during the first week of production, says Kohansky-Roberts.

“It’s one thing for crew to read a script and to understand the story that they’re telling, but there was something that happened to each and every member of our film where they had seen what Christy had endured, and to be able to walk out of that and be alive today,” she says. The following week, when Martin arrived on set, she was greeted with rapturous applause for about 10 or 15 minutes from the producers, camera team, and actors who were congregated on set.

Watching the movie isn’t easy for Martin. She’s seen it a couple of times now, including at the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. “It’s hard to sit through,” she says. “I explained to everybody: It’s not just what you guys see on the movie screen—I remember what happened around those events.”

But, it’s worth it to get her story out there, Martin says, to help others who may be in toxic relationships or suppressing who they really are. Her story is one of resilience, and, in the end, she won much more than just a bunch of boxing matches. “Boxing gave me a great ride,” she says. “I hope audiences feel that if you can believe it, you can achieve it—and to stay strong and true to yourself.”