“The Fire Inside”'s Ryan Destiny wasn't sure she could land the punch as boxer Claressa Shields: 'A completely new world for me'
In a joint conversation with the trailblazing Olympic champion herself, the rising star talks stepping into the ring for the biopic from director Rachel Morrison and writer Barry Jenkins.
For the role of Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields, rising star Ryan Destiny didn't think she would land the punch in a ring full of hopefuls also prepared to fight for it.
“I knew it would be very competitive," the 29-year-old actress, known for television roles on Grown-ish and Star, tells Entertainment Weekly during a joint conversation with her real-life counterpart. "It's a really great story and has great people as part of it. Normally you think people will want these bigger names, and that wasn't me. I was doubting myself.”
From Academy Award-winning writer Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) and director Rachel Morrison, an Oscar-nominated cinematographer (Mudbound, Black Panther) in her feature film directorial debut, The Fire Inside, which opens Christmas Day, charts the remarkable rise of the boxer and two-time Olympic champion from Flint, Mich. nicknamed "T-Rex," the first American woman to win gold for boxing.
At the pinnacle of becoming the greatest of all time, however, comes the gut-punch realization that not all dreams are created equal; the drama, which also stars Brian Tyree Henry as Shields' coach, Jason Crutchfield, also tells the story of a bigger fight outside the ring. Morrison, for her part, knew Destiny would pack the punch.
“Ryan came into her audition swinging and literally knocked my jaw to the floor,” the director tells EW. “She brought so much humanity and grit and emotion to her performance that she made herself undeniable.”
Below, a conversation with Destiny and Shields, who fought to bring her real story to screen.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Claressa, what was your initial reaction when you found out they’d be doing a biopic after the release of your doc, T-Rex?
CLARESSA SHIELDS: I knew that it would happen, I just didn’t know it would happen so soon. When they came to me, I was still getting ready for the 2016 Olympics, so I was excited but also asking so many questions like: Who's going to play me? Do you guys really know my story? I was adamant about the ending, because from my documentary, I was followed from the age of 16 until I was about 20, so when that ended, it was just like, Claressa doesn't have any endorsements; she won the Olympics but she's poor and still in her same situation. So I was like, for the movie, it can't have the same ending. I wanted people to know that my life has elevated inside and outside the ring, so it was a lot of talks.
Along with pushing for that ending, what creative input did you have as executive producer?
SHIELDS: I had a lot of input. Before Barry wrote the script, we met in person and talked for almost five hours. I let him speak first about what he thought my story was, and when he got done talking, I said, "Well, you had a few key parts, but this is what I want to tell, what I want them to understand about me." When he wrote his script a few months later and sent it to me, he got it just right. There was so much strength and resilience. The only thing was, Ryan was doing certain [scenes that] are very sensitive when it comes to my family members — they’re going to see this too. When she was doing certain scenes, it didn't really give you the emotions. So she would call me [and ask], “What was the relationship between you and your mama at this age?” When you see the film, you see that it did change over time. I did not have one of the best upbringings. Those are sensitive parts, and she wanted to get ‘em right. She just took it and did her best with it. Ryan did a great job. I cry every time I watch the movie.
Ryan, what did the 10-month boxing training look like?
RYAN DESTINY: I was splitting my time between weight training and boxing training, which was really tiring. Initially, I had to meet with the boxing trainer, [who] worked with Michael B. Jordan on Creed. Rachel obviously has a relationship with Michael, and he knew about the project. Me and Claressa were on two different sides of the world at that point too; I was in L.A. at the time, so I was training mostly out there. And then the pandemic got in the way of a lot of things. So I started training for a few months during that time, and then another few months when we picked it back up again. It was a little up and down. I was definitely going through it. It was a completely new world for me. I don't work out on the regular, so if you just pile that onto a person, it was definitely a challenge. I looked at so many videos of Claressa on YouTube, and her documentary was really, really helpful.
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Were there any other challenges beyond the physical training?
DESTINY: It was the emotional and mental just as much as the physical. Claressa is very superhuman to me in so many ways, and that's something that I don't see myself as a lot of the time. I think [her] mindset is very different from a lot of people. That was one challenge that I wanted to make sure I could capture, because an athlete has to see themselves in a completely different light. They have to have this confidence that's unmatched, and I think a boxer's mentality is even bigger, so that was something that was very important for me to wrap my head around. So I'm like, how can I do this? I'm really going to have to put it on.
Claressa, were you on set to offer Ryan pointers in the ring?
SHIELDS: We always kept missing each other. If she was in Flint, I was just flying out of Flint. But we had each other’s numbers. I remember her reaching out like, "Hey, not trying to be a bother but I’ve been working hard, I’ve been training hard, I’m getting bigger, I’m getting stronger." I was so happy she reached out because it let me know she's training hard as ever for this part. I was really vocal with Rachel and Barry, like, "This is not a Rocky movie. This is a real-life story." I'm resilient and inspirational, and I need her to embody that inside and outside the ring. And honestly, when I first found out that it was her playing me, I was like, oh, man... I was a little worried because she's tiny, she's very pretty. I'm like, has she ever even been into a real street fight or anything? She really had me worried. But you could tell she worked very hard.
The film explores the aftermath of your historic Olympic win and how you had the glory and fame, yet the endorsement deals never came. How do you look back at the period now?
SHIELDS: My only dream from the age of 13 until I was 16 or 17, was to win the Olympics. I was going to school and training multiple times a day, running to the gym. All I cared about was the gym. Me changing for the world or endorsements was never in the plan, so that's why it never happened. I think God's timing is the best timing. I'm happy that I didn't get a million-dollar payday after winning my first Olympic gold medal, because what is a 17-year-old going to do with the million dollars? But did I have to go through hardships and see girls who didn’t medal on cereal boxes, girls who didn’t accomplish what I accomplished on magazine covers and get shown all this love? Did I have to go through feeling left out?
Simone Biles, Simone Manuel, Katie Ledecky, and Carmelita Jeter, all these girls knew and supported me at the Olympics. I supported them. But they’re doing photoshoots. I remember that being one of the most hurtful moments, because I was friends with those girls; we had so much love for each other. And I was like, dang, how do I be a part of this conversation? I felt like my gold medal weighed less than theirs. So to be a 17-year-old going through that and also be in Flint where everybody's saying, “They played you, they dissed you, your gold medal didn't mean anything, you're not getting what you deserve” — to hear that for so many years and then go back and do it again was like, oh, man. So I was very strict about [the end of the movie], because [the documentary is] not the full story. I have endorsements. I have sponsorships now. But it was difficult living in it. I think that’s why I cry throughout the movie.
Have you watched the movie with your family yet? Any anxieties given some of the sensitive scenes? What about you Ryan, have you watched?
SHIELDS: I have watched it with my former boxing coach, Jason Crutchfield, and his family. I'll be watching it with my family sometime in November. I feel like everybody will be happy with how they were portrayed, but then again, you can't control it all. I hope that they're grateful that I'm 29 and I have a biopic about my life right now. I think everybody will be happy.
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DESTINY: I saw it last year when it wasn’t completely done. My first time seeing it in full was at the Toronto Film Festival. I'm glad I saw it that way too because being with a crowd is just such a different feeling. It was cool because I was also watching it a little differently. The first time you're watching it, you're like, what did I mess up on? What could I have done better? So the second time, I just watched it for what it was. I tried to take myself out of it as much as possible. I cried the first time, but the second time I really cried because of how inspiring the story really is. I was really proud of Claressa in that moment too, seeing everything she accomplished. It just really hit me.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.