For Olympic boxer Claressa Shields, biopic 'The Fire Inside' is a knockout depiction of her career
“The Fire Inside” starring Ryan Destiny as Claressa Shields and Brian Tyree Henry as her trainer, Jason Crutchfield, brings Shields’ story to the big screen.
To boxing and Olympics enthusiasts, Claressa “T-Rex” Shields is a household name. The film “The Fire Inside,” starring Ryan Destiny as Shields and Brian Tyree Henry as her trainer, Jason Crutchfield, now aims to bring the 29-year-old phenomenon's story into every household and the world.
Written by Oscar-winning “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins and directed by Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rachel Morrison, who worked on “Black Panther,” “The Fire Inside” traces Shields’ boxing journey starting at age 11, concentrating on her teen years working with volunteer boxing coach Jason Crutchfield, through her historic 2012 Olympics win at 17 and its aftermath, which included numerous titles and her second Olympic gold in 2016.
As a young Black girl growing up in Flint, Michigan, in a struggling household where she and her siblings often went hungry, Shields’ rise to become the first female boxer to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States was not exactly in the cards.
And casting Destiny for the lead role was unconventional, too, as she had started her career as a singer in girl groups before co-starring in the Lee Daniels’ TV series “Star,” about an aspiring girl group.
“For a long time, I had been wanting to do a project that really challenged me in a different way. With a project like this, it wasn’t something that specifically came to me,” the actor said.
Rating: 5