Even though her role didn’t require her to, Rachel McAdams popped on the boxing gloves and went a few rounds in the ring whilst shooting Southpaw.
The actress, who stars as Maureen, the wife of boxer Billy ‘The Great’ Hope, has revealed she used her time on set to perfect her boxing techniques.
True Detective star McAdams told USA Today: “I figured Maureen would understand boxing really well. She’d make it her business to know it. Jake [co-star Jake Gyllenhaal] came and watched me box in the ring.
“I practiced. I wasn’t fighting. I definitely wasn’t fighting. I just tried to pick it up. Nowhere near the extent that Jake did. It was an excuse to sweat and get in shape. It’s a total head to toe workout. You do one three-minute round and you’re toast.”
Co-star Gyllenhaal has admitted he was terrified about being embarrassed in the ring on camera but says the fear motivated him.
He said: “I spent five months training for the movie and I trained twice a day. I figured I’d make five months into 10 months if I did that.
“And I was just basically scared that I’d look like an idiot, so I worked as hard as I could. Fear is sometimes a good motivating thing.”
