Ryan Destiny

The Fire Inside is a new biographical film about professional boxer Claressa “T-Rex” Shields. The fighter from Flint, Michigan rises to the top of her game by being the woman in the country’s history to win the Olympic gold medal in the sport.

The film stars Ryan Destiny as Shields and Brian Tyree Henry plays Claressa’s coach Jason Crutchfield.

On television Destiny played opposite Queen Latifah in Star and has a recurring role on Grown-ish.She’s not only a talented actress but a singer as well and has released several singles including “How Your Hands Feel” this year.

On a press tour for The Fire Inside she made a stop in Chicago to talk about the film.

JN: (Jerry Nunn) Start off with a little bit about your sports background. Were you scrappy growing up?

RD: (Ryan Destiny) I was not. I was the complete opposite and such a weenie. I was someone that played by the rules a lot. I tried to stay out of the way and that's definitely my type of personality.

I'm not like Claressa, that's for sure.

JN: How did you channel that character?

RD: It was a lot of different things. It took me being really scared and having to channel that fear somewhere else. There was a lot of studying her. Who she was with her family and then who she was as a boxer.

Luckily in this day and age, we have so much footage out there of people, so I was able to YouTube a lot of her fights. There's an amazing documentary about her life and it puts you in the front seat of how she was with her with her family and Jason as well.

All of those things were really, really helpful.

JN: How was filming all the boxing scenes?

RD: It was interesting because I had to learn how to fight and actually box. Then I had to do a whole other set of training for the actual stunts and that's different.

You have to throw punches a little different than what I had just learned for the four or five months before that. It was a learning experience for sure.

I ended up doing all of my stunts, which is really exhausting, but I really got into it. I was happy that I even had the stamina to be able to do take after take. It got to a point that I was fighting actual professional women boxers and they weren't stunt people. Even they were having a hard time, but we were all in it together.

It was a fun experience to actually do the stunts in that capacity.

JN: Did you have a special diet or could you just eat whatever you wanted at the time?

RD: Oh, it was my goal to gain weight, so it was a combination.

When I was dining out, I was stuffing myself to try to get to a certain weight and feel my muscle.

Trying to eat the right things throughout this experience was something that I had to do.

JN: Was getting this role kind of like winning in the Olympics?

RD: Yes and I felt this was such a special project that I really wanted to be a part of. I knew going in that it was going to be a pretty competitive audition process.

When I ended up finding out that I got the part, I was surprised and didn't expect it.

I was really thankful and excited to start.

JN: Have you had a person in your life that was supportive like the coach in The Fire Inside?

RD: My mom and dad have been people that have pushed me since I was very young. Sometimes people have parents that are not involved or don’t believe in their child, but my parents are the complete opposite. Anything that I wanted to do, they were right there to support me. I'm really thankful for that.

My boxing coach that I used for this film, I got really attached to him too. That helped me find out what the dynamic feels like in all of those boxing movies that we see.

When I found out that I couldn't actually use my boxing coach on set, it was the same feeling that Claressa had in the film itself when Jason couldn’t come with her to China. That was a very weird thing that I did not expect going in.

I also didn't expect to get attached to someone like that. He treated me like his fighter and not an actor. I think when you have someone that is such a part of you in that way and boosts your

confidence so much that you feel like you can do anything with them, it’s a very weird transition to go through when they are not there anymore.

That was something that was not supposed to happen and it did. I'm glad that it did because I could understand those scenes even more. It was crazy.

JN: The Fire Inside is not a typical kind of boxing movie. It's really about the obstacles that she has to learn that are unique. How do you tell people about it without giving too much away?

RD: It’s hard not to tell people that there’s a lot in store for them when they watch it. I think it's just making sure people understand that this movie is bigger than boxing itself.

Claressa's story is so powerful and she's such a strong person that the message truly is about how you can overcome things even when you get knocked down over and over again.

Things may not go your way, but you have to keep fighting. I think that’s the way our film is set up and structured.That’s something that's really special and one of my favorite parts about it. I'm just glad other people are seeing that too. There's just always going to be obstacles.

JN: Black history is not taught enough in schools and so to have movies like The Fire Inside where people can learn about real people’s stories must feel rewarding as a performer.

RD: It really is. I would love to continue to feel this way about all of my work. I've never been more proud of something.

JN: Well, that accolades are important. Congrats on the Rising Star Award for the Critics Choice Black Celebration.

RD: Thank you! I feel some validation already. When I found out about the Critics Choice Award one I couldn’t believe it. You go in a project like this hoping for the best and then you try not to think about the awards too much.

I am just really happy that I love this film because that is not always the case. Sometimes I will perform on something and I really don't want anyone to see it.

The Fired Inside is something I am proud of and I get to promote by traveling all around.

JN: Well, I am glad you came to Chicago. You are from Michigan so did you come to Chicago often in the past?

RD: I did and I am a Midwest girl!

JN: Are you going to do more singing?

RD: I plan to. That's always in the cards. I'm just trying to make sure I balance it in the right way. I never want my acting and music to clash. I want to incorporate singing, acting and dancing so maybe musicals.

JN: What’s your favorite musical?

RD: I grew up really loving The Wiz. I was obsessed with it and Diana Ross is my queen!

The Fire Inside opens wide on December 25, 2024 in theaters everywhere.