As part of Sydney Sweeney’s role in Christy, one of the most heavily discussed titles on the 2025 movie schedule, the lead actress had to train so that she’d be ready to play the titular boxer. She ultimately crafted a Rocky-esque gym to prepare in and, by the time the cameras started rolling, she was ready to take some hits in the ring. It also seems she managed to throw a few jabs of her own, according to co-star Katy O’Brian. In fact, O’Brian recently recalled to CinemaBlend how she texted with Glen Powell about that while on set.
Both Katy O’Brian and Sydney Sweeney have developed professional and personal relationships with Glen Powell at this point. Sweeney worked with Powell on the hit rom-com Anyone but You, while O’Brian co-starred with him in Twisters and the upcoming adaptation of The Running Man. With that, O’Brian – while alongside Christy director David Michôd – humorously told CinemaBlend she’d send texts to Powell about the hits she took. When asked about her and Powell playing love interests to Sweeney, O’Brian said:
Oh, my God, I didn’t even think about it. I mean, I’d known Glen — I actually knew Glen from Twisters, so I knew him well before Sydney. But I did send him pictures, when we were training, because I was heading onto The Running Man. I was actually, like, bouncing back and forth at the time, and I was like, ‘Tell your girl to stop hitting me in the face.’
Sweeney previously talked about her approach to the film’s fight scenes, explaining that she and her co-stars were not faking the hits. It definitely appears O’Brien was a beneficiary of that amid training, and she previously said it actually “felt good” getting hit by her co-star. It seems that even if she’d realized the love interest connection early on, O’Brian still would’ve rather discussed the fight training while talking to Powell:
It’s just a picture of her landing a punch and training just right in my face. But, we didn’t – I fell like it’d be very creepy to talk about, like, ‘Hey, so we both have been fake love interests. Didn’t come about it that way.
Katy O’Brian – who plays Christy Martin’s rival-turned-lover, Lisa Holewyne – is also a force to be reckoned with. She began studying martial arts at a young age and also participated in bodybuilding figure competitions. With all of that in mind, I’m sure she could pack a punch herself. I can’t say I’d be eager to be in Sydney Sweeney’s shoes in that regard and, when speaking about the immersive experience as a whole, Sweeney discussed how physically taxing the shoot was.
The Euphoria star previously spoke about the “physically bruising” process of making this sports biopic. When talking about the most taxing scene to shoot, Sweeney gave the Laila Ali fight that particular distinction. That portion of the shoot apparently left the actress with some “gnarly bruises,” and she later “drowned [her] face in ice buckets for hours all night.” What actors won’t do for the sake of their art.
Of course, there don’t seem to be any hard feelings at all over the jabs Sweeney and O’Brian exchange, as they were just acting after all. I’d still love to know, though, exactly how Glen Powell responded to the photo O’Brian sent him. Personally, I’d imagine Powell could understand being in a position to put one’s body through it (especially given his work on his and O’Brian’s latest flick.)
See Sydney Sweeney and Katy O’Brian exchange jabs in Christy, which is now playing in theaters nationwide.