Outside of the physical demand, this movie also featured highly emotional themes and dialogue, especially scenes between Claressa and her mother. Did you have any conversations with Claressa to help you reach that emotional peak?
RD: I think my approach to it was a little bit of a few things: I obviously wanted to talk to her and get her insight on things, so whenever I did have questions, she was there to answer them. I wanted to make sure I got the dynamic between Claressa and her mom on point, for obvious reasons. That’s one of the most important relationships that we have in life. It was also just very complex, so there were moments in the script where I would just question like, “Why would she say that? Or why would she do that, or why would she go back?” I really wanted to hear from her and understand how she looked at her relationship with her mom during that time in her life and how she looked at it now. I wanted to know what she’d learned and how she felt about that moment — even though she was hurt by her in those moments, and even though it was a dark time — it was still her mom, and nothing could replace that.
And you’re always going to have a soft spot in your heart for that person. You might not understand each other, you might bump heads, and you might not really like them at times. Claressa has even said that before. She said, “I loved [my mom], but I didn’t like her.” So there were things like that that I just really wanted to hear from Claressa to truly understand her. Apart from that, there was the documentary that I had that was so incredible and special to have, because it really gave a front row seat to all the dynamics that she had with her coach, with her siblings, with her mom, and with her friends. Those little things were the most important to me to be able to stand and execute well, because those are the things that hit home. I treated everything with the same intent and special attention, whether it be for the physical, emotional, or mental, was always the same for me. I am really glad that she was able to talk to me in that way and be open.
