The Fire Inside star Ryan Destiny training to play boxer Claressa Shields

For the role of Olympic boxing champion Claressa Shields, rising star Ryan Destiny didn’t think she’d land the fight in a ring full of hopefuls who were also prepared to fight for it.

“I knew it was going to be very competitive,” the 29-year-old actress, known for TV roles on Adult-like and Star, narrator Weekly entertainment during a joint conversation with her counterpart in real life. “It’s a really great story and has great people as part of it. Usually you think people want these bigger names and it wasn’t me. I doubted myself.”

From Oscar-winning author Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) and director Rachel Morrison, an Oscar-nominated cinematographer (Mudbound, Black Panther) in his feature directorial debut, The fire withinwhich 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.

On top 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’ trainer, Jason Crutchfield, also tells the story of a bigger fight outside the ring. Morrison, for his part, knew Destiny would pack the punches.

“Ryan came swinging into his audition 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 struggled to bring her real story to the screen.

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Claressa, what was your first reaction when you found out they were going to make a biopic after the release of your doctor, T-Rex?

CLARESSA SHIELDS: I knew it would happen, I just didn’t know it would happen so quickly. 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 will play against me? Do you 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 it ended it was like, Claressa has no endorsements; she won the olympics but she is poor and still in the same situation. So I thought that for the movie it can’t have the same ending. I wanted people to know that my life has increased in and out of the ring, so it was a lot of conversations.

Besides pushing for that ending, what creative input did you have as an executive producer?

SHELLS: I had a lot of input. Before Barry wrote the script, we met in person and talked for almost five hours. I first let him talk about what he thought my story was, and when he finished talking I said, “Well, you had a few key parts, but this is what I’m going to tell what I want, that they should 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 that Ryan did certain (scenes that) are very sensitive when it comes to my family members – they’re going to see this too. When she did certain scenes, it didn’t really give you the emotions. So she called me (and asked), “What was the relationship between you and your mother at this age?” When you watch the film, you see that it changed over time. I didn’t have one of the best upbringings. These are sensitive parts and she wanted to get them 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 was the 10 month boxing training like?

RYAN FATE: I split my time between weight training and boxing training, which was really tiring. At first I was supposed to meet with the boxing trainer, (who) worked with Michael B. Jordan on Creed. Rachel apparently has a relationship with Michael and he knew about the project. Me and Claressa were also on two different sides of the world at the time; I was in LA at the time so I was mostly training out there. And then the pandemic got in the way of many things. So I started working out for a few months during that time, and then another few months when we picked it up again. It was a bit up and down. I was definitely going to go through with it. It was a whole new world for me. I don’t exercise regularly, so if you just put it on one person, it was definitely a challenge. I watched so many videos of Claressa on YouTube and her documentary was really, really helpful.

Were there other challenges besides the physical training?

FATE: It was the emotional and mental as much as the physical. Claressa is very superhuman to me in so many ways, and that’s something I don’t see myself as a lot of the time. I think (her) way of thinking is very different from many people’s. It was a challenge that I wanted to make sure I could capture, because an athlete has to see himself in a completely different light. They have to have this confidence that’s second to none, and I think the mentality of a boxer is even bigger, so that was something that was very important for me to wrap my head around. So I think how can I do that? I’m really going to have to put it on.

Claressa, were you ready to give Ryan tips in the ring?

SHELLS: We always kept missing each other. If she was in Flint, I just flew out of Flint. But we had each other’s numbers. I remember her reaching out like, “Hey, I’m 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 glad she made it because it told me she is training hard as always 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 bubbly and inspiring, and I need her to embody that in and out of the ring. And honestly, when I first found out she was playing me, I was like, oh, man… I was a little worried because she’s tiny, she’s very pretty. I mean, has she ever been in a real street fight or something? She really worried me. But you could tell she was working very hard.

The film explores the aftermath of your historic Olympic victory and how you gained glory and fame but the endorsement deals never came. How do you look back on the period now?

SHELLS: My only dream from the time I was 13 until I was 16 or 17 was to win the Olympics. I went to school and worked out several times a day and ran to the gym. All I cared about was the gym. Changing myself for the world or endorsements was never in the plan, so therefore it never happened. I believe God’s timing is the best timing. I’m glad I didn’t get a million-dollar payday after winning my first Olympic gold medal, because what’s a 17-year-old going to do with a million? But was I going to go through hardships and see girls who didn’t win medals on cereal boxes, girls who didn’t achieve what I achieved on magazine covers, and be shown all this love? Did I have to feel 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 do photoshoots. I remember it being one of the most hurtful moments because I was friends with those girls; we had so much love for each other. And I thought, how can 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 to 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 in so many years and then going back and doing it again was like, oh, man. So I was very strict about (the end of the film) because (the documentary is) not the whole story. I have endorsements. I have sponsorships now. But it was hard to live in it. I think that’s why I cry throughout the whole movie.

Have you seen the movie with your family yet? Any concerns because of some of the sensitive scenes? How about you Ryan, have you seen?

SHELLS: I’ve seen it with my former boxing coach, Jason Crutchfield, and his family. I’m going to see it with my family sometime in November. I feel like everyone will be happy with how they were portrayed, but then again, you can’t control it all. I hope they appreciate that I’m 29 and I have a biography of my life right now. I think everyone will be happy.

FATE: I saw it last year when it wasn’t quite finished. My first time seeing it in its entirety was at the Toronto Film Festival. I’m glad I saw it that way too, because being with a crowd is just so different. It was cool because I also saw it a little differently. The first time you see it, you think, what did I mess up? What could I have done better? So the second time I just saw 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 also really proud of Claressa in that moment when I saw all that she accomplished. It just really hit me.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.