Sydney Sweeney is one of many actors who have had to undergo an intense physical transformation to morph into a character. For her upcoming film, Christy, the 28-year-old gained more than 30 pounds to portray the role of legendary boxer Christy Martin. The actress looked ripped, but had to immediately lose it all in just 7 weeks to return to her on-screen weight for filming two completely different projects.
Some actors, such as Christian Bale, have become known for their body transformations. While Sweeney noted that putting on weight for a role as an actor is common, she told PEOPLE it "was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
To realistically portray Martin’s athletic build, Sweeney underwent months of strength training and dramatically altered her diet. “When I was training, it was really hard to put on all the weight,” she recalled.
Sweeney went on to reveal how she got it done, and there was a lot of protein involved. “I was eating so much food. Like, everything you could possibly imagine. And then I was downing protein shake after protein shake and taking a lot of creatine, which just makes you bloat," she explained.
Once filming wrapped, though, it was time to undo all that physical prep so she could return to The Housemaid and the third season of Euphoria.. “I had to be really strict with myself,” Sweeney said of the post-production phase.
She immediately stopped her high-calorie intake and cut out all supplements. “When you stop working out and taking all your protein shakes, you lose muscle super fast,” she explained. “It’s the first thing to go before fat. So that, I dropped within two weeks.”
The rest of the process took longer and required a more disciplined approach. She went super clean with her eating and added a lot of cardio.
Still, she admits the experience tested her physically and mentally. “I don’t want to say this is super easy,” she added. “But I’ve been a very active person my entire life. Like, I was a super active kid, and I’ve always kind of just stayed active and always had a good metabolism. I can gain weight, but I can lose it too.”
While she’s proud of the transformation and the dedication it took, Sweeney doesn’t see herself putting her body through that kind of swing again. “This might be the one and only time I challenge my body this strenuously for a role,” she said.
Christy, directed by David Michôd, is now in theaters, and it's doing great. It has a 66% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97% Popcornmeter.