Sydney Sweeney is opening up about the intense physical transformation she underwent for her latest film role.
The actress, 28, told People that she gained significant muscle for her boxing movie Christy, where she portrays legendary fighter Christy Martin, by dramatically increasing her calorie intake and relying on protein shakes and supplements. But once filming wrapped, she needed to return to her leaner frame — and fast.
“I was eating so much food,” Sweeney explained of bulking up for the role. To slim back down, she immediately stopped her training routine and cut out the protein shakes she had been “downing” throughout production. “Muscle is the first thing to go before fat,” she said. “So, that, I dropped within two weeks.”
Sweeney also shared that she had been taking creatine to build strength on camera, but the supplement left her feeling bloated — so she dropped that too. From there, her routine became “super clean eating” combined with “a lot of cardio” to shed the remaining weight.
The Emmy-nominated Euphoria star only had seven weeks between wrapping Christy and beginning work on The Housemaid and Season 3 of Euphoria. “I had to be really strict with myself,” she shared.
Sweeney emphasized that while her metabolism helped, the transformation was far from effortless. “I don’t want to say this is super easy,” she noted. “I’ve been a very active person my entire life … I can gain weight, but I can lose it too.”
When behind-the-scenes set photos of Christy surfaced last year, online critics mocked Sweeney’s changed appearance. Instead of responding with words, she fired back with action — posting videos of her intense boxing training, flipping tires, and powering through cable pull-ups.
According to a source who spoke to Page Six earlier this month, the demanding role carried emotional weight beyond the physical. The insider said Sweeney “went through a lot with someone in her past who mistreated her” and that embodying Martin “gave her the strength to remind herself who she is.”
Sweeney first announced her casting in October 2024 with an emotional message on Instagram. “Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength and hope,” she wrote of Martin. “I’m honored to step into her shoes.”
Though Christy did not meet expectations at the box office, Sweeney recently reminded fans that not every project is about numbers: “We don’t always just make art for numbers, we make it for impact.”
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