Sydney Sweeney attended the Road to the Golden Globes party during the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, appearing on the red carpet in a strapless little black dress as she promoted her upcoming biopic, Christy.
The 27-year-old actor was joined at the event by a number of established performers, including Kirsten Dunst, Samara Weaving and Elizabeth Olsen, while Channing Tatum, who co-stars with Dunst in Roofman, was also reported to have been in attendance. Other festival attendees on the carpet included Imogen Poots, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson.
Sweeney, who is at the festival for the debut of Christy, portrayed former welterweight champion Christy Martin in the biopic. At a screening for the film on Friday, she grew emotional while addressing Martin, saying, "Christy, you are absolutely incredible, and I’m so honored. I’m gonna cry! Oh my God, you’re so inspirational," according to Variety. Martin, 57, praised Sweeney’s performance, telling reporters, "She wasn’t the beautiful, sexy Sydney. She was the tough, rugged Christy."
Sweeney described the preparation she undertook for the role, saying she trained with a boxing coach, weight trainers and nutritionists and that she trained "three times a day, every day" before and during filming. She also said she increased her caloric intake, in part by drinking "a lot of milk shakes, a lot of protein shakes," to build the physique required for the role. Christy is scheduled to open in theaters on Nov. 7.
On the red carpet, Dunst, 43, wore a figure-hugging grey dress with midriff cutouts. Weaving opted for a sheer black dress paired with silver jewelry, and Poots chose a backless black gown with lace panels. Olsen appeared in a PVC dress with a plunging neckline. Portman attended in a more casual T-shirt-and-jeans look, while Thompson wore a vibrant pink dress.
The positive reception for Christy is notable for Sweeney, who has faced public controversy this summer over an American Eagle campaign described in some criticism as evocative of eugenics-era language. An analysis by The New York Times found that right-leaning outlets amplified the controversy after initial posts on social media, while other coverage framed the matter as widely circulated by political commentators.
Sweeney’s recent film outings, including Americana and Eden, have met with lackluster box-office returns and mixed reviews. Industry observers and box-office trackers have noted that the commercial performance of those projects reflected critical reception and audience response rather than evidence of a decline in the actor’s personal draw.
In her personal life, Sweeney separated from her former fiancé, Jonathan Davino, in March. Reports in the days following the Toronto festival said Sweeney was seen with music executive Scooter Braun during the Labor Day weekend in Lake Tahoe; those reports have been characterized in entertainment outlets as describing a "casual romance."
Festival appearances offered Sweeney and her co-stars a platform to promote forthcoming projects and to engage with critics and audiences ahead of theatrical releases. For Sweeney, the event followed the emotional screening and served as a high-profile moment leading into Christy’s November release.