Sydney Sweeney plays boxer Christy Martin in the sports biopic "Christy."

TORONTO - A bunch of chicken and jelly were on Sydney Sweeney's training table prepping to play boxer Christy Martin. After the reception the sports biopic "Christy" received when it premiered Sept. 5 at Toronto Film Festival, they should be on the afterparty menu, too.

Sweeney earned a standing ovation – as did the real Martin, who was accompanied by her pooch, Champ – for a transformational role that could net her a best actress Oscar nomination.

"Christy" follows the title character's life from West Virginia teenager winning Toughman Contests to championship boxer in the 1990s, ultimately landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated and signing with infamous promoter Don King (Chad Coleman). But outside of the ring, Christy hides and represses her lesbianism and winds up marrying her trainer Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who manipulates and physically abuses her.

"If you leave me, I will kill you," Jim says multiple times – and in the film's most harrowing, bloody sequence, he almost lives up to that promise.

Sweeney thanked the festival crowd for "spreading Christy's story and awareness, because as you can tell, she is such a special and incredible human being. Her story deserves to be told."

The actress teared up talking next to Martin in the post-premiere Q&A.

"You're so inspirational, so being able to have her by my side during this process was a dream," Sweeney said. "But then also just scary, too, because you're like, 'Oh, my gosh, we're doing this in front of her,' and I wasn't quite sure. I mean, she's the greatest boxer in the entire world, and I'm having to do hooks and hits, and I'm like, 'I hope I'm doing this right.' It was a dream come true as an actor, as a person."

Sweeney also talked about her transformation for the movie, which involved gaining about 30 pounds. She trained three times a day for three months before filming began, and worked with a boxing coach, weight trainers and nutritionists.

Her diet consisted of "a lot of Chick-fil-A, a lot, a lot of Smucker's, a lot of milkshakes, a lot of protein shakes," Sweeney recalled. "But it was incredible being able to completely embody such a powerful woman. I felt even stronger. It was truly inspiring."

Martin spoke of Sweeney portraying her as a hard-hitting, braggadocious knockout artist in the ring.

"Christy Martin the boxer was really just a persona – very bombastic, very egotistical – but that's not really who I am," Martin said. "I am actually very shy and reserved and want to help everyone that I possibly can in the boxing world. I (also) wanted to knock everybody out that I possibly could.

"So I have those two parts of my personality and I think that's why Sydney Sweeney's doing such an awesome job, because she got to be this totally different person that none of you expected. She wasn't the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy in this movie, and I think it's awesome."

Martin's post-ring career has involved speaking out to support victims of domestic violence. After the near-death incident involving her ex-husband, "I made a deal with God from the hospital bed that if he let me live, I would help as many people as possible," she said. "Actually, I said one person before I die, and then the arrogant me said, 'No, I want to help one person every day before I die.'

"I hope that this movie does just that," Martin said. "If a coal miner's daughter from a 500-people town in southern West Virginia can make it, anybody can."

Added Sweeney: "I hope that people walk away and they're just absolutely inspired by Christy, which I think they will be."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Boxer Christy Martin shouts out Sydney Sweeney's 'tough' side

Reporting by Brian Truitt, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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