Thriving in a sport that places limitations on those who are perceived to be less fortunate requires more than just a natural athleticism. The new sports biopic, The Fire Inside, which chronicles the origin story of boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields, showcases how she embraced both her strengths and limitations to become an Olympic gold medal-winning athlete.
The Fire Inside marks the feature film directorial debut of Black Panther cinematographer, Rachel Morrison. The new drama was penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter, Barry Jenkins. The scribe served as a producer, while Morrison and Shields acted as executive producers, on the movie.
The Fire Inside tells the inspirational true story of Claressa Shields (played by Ryan Destiny in an Independent Spirit Award-nominated role). She has become considered by many to be the greatest female boxer of all time.
Claressa, a high school junior from Flint, Michigan, aided by her tough-love coach, Jason Crutchfield (portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry in a Gotham Award-nominated performance), pushes past all limitations to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing. But even at the pinnacle of success, Claressa has to reckon with the fact that not all dreams are created equal, and the real fight has only just begun.
Amazon MGM Studios will distribute The Fire Inside in theaters on December 25, 2024. To help promote the biopic’s release, Morrison, Destiny, Henry and Shields generously took the time recently to talk about the feature and the boxer’s career during an press conference over Zoom.
Q: Rachel, The Fire Inside marks your directorial debut and what a story to start with. What was it about Claressa’s journey and her story that made you tap in and say, “This is the story that I want to tell”?
Rachel Morrison: I think it started with the fact that I didn’t know it. Claressa is such a badass force and an incredible athlete, and I follow sports. So for me to not know it, it felt like there was something wrong in the universe. I think Barry (Jenkins) had the same response, which s what inspired him to take on the project as well
I’d been reading for a long time and looking for something that felt meaningful and additive in the universe and that I could be additive to. There were things that I saw from my experiences being a female DP (Director of Photography) that I could put into it, as well. But really it’s just Claressa’s story deserved to be out there.
Q: Ryan, where were you in the world when The Fire Inside came to you? What was that audition process like? Why did you say, “I have to be a part of this film?”
Ryan Destiny: I think I was in L.A. I was working on another project at the time, and this one came in just like any other project does with your team to audition. So I just went in for it and I did my self-tape. I didn’t think too much of it because I just knew how competitive it would be. I knew how special the project was and how incredible everyone was that was behind it.
So it was just a thing where I was like, let’s just see how this goes and let’s see what happens. So it was fairly normal, just like any other thing you do. Then the callbacks came and I was really shocked that that even happened itself. So it was really cool. But I was out in L.A. during that time in my life.
Q: Was this a story that you were familiar with, too, or was it a lot of new information for you?
Ryan Destiny: It was a lot of new information. So you know, I think for all of us, it was just unbelievable that we didn’t know much about the story. I think that that’s also for other people who need to really see this film and get familiar with, and understand, the history that she’s made and how iconic she is. So it was just interesting to learn so much more when I had to audition.
