EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Morrison Talks Bringing Claressa Shields’ Story to Life in ‘The Fire Inside’

Now in theaters, The Fire Inside follows the true story of female boxer, Claressa Shields. The story follows Claressa as she begins her boxing career as a high schooler in Flint, Michigan to the aftermath of her becoming the first American female to win an Olympic gold medal.

To celebrate the new movie, we got the chance to hear from the director of the movie, Rachel Morrison. In her directorial debut, Morrison talked what made her want to tell this story, making sure Flint was integral part of the story, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

On what was it about Claressa Shields’ journey and her story that made her say, “This is the story that I wanna tell.”:

“It started with the fact that I didn’t know it. And Claressa is such a badass force and an incredible athlete, and I follow sports. So for me to not know it, it felt like there was something wrong in the universe. And I think Barry [Jenkins] had the same response, which is, what inspired him to take on the project as well. I’d been reading for a long time and looking for something that felt meaningful and additive in the universe and that I could be additive to. There were things that I saw from my experiences being a female DP that I could sort of put into it as well. But really it’s just Claressa’s story deserved to be out there.”

On how her extensive background in visual storytelling helped shape the story:

“Really, we were trying to blend a spectacle with intimacy. And so the background of having shot big things like Black Panther and directed things like The Mandalorian and sort of having the scopey projects in my past. But really the heart of the movie for me anyway is what happens after the gold medal. Although I’m incredibly proud of the boxing and incredibly proud of all of Ryan’s [Destiny] stunt work and the choreography and all of it. But it’s really the heart-to-heart moments.

So I think it was really trying to be incredibly like subjective and experiential, which is something that I think is pretty consistent in all my work. And, you know, a mind is sort of blending naturalism with a little bit of a heightened, slightly more spectacular from a visual perspective.”

On how important was it to make sure that the city of Flint was an integral part of the story:

“It was everything to me. I started going to Flint five, six years ago. And I fell in love with it. And it is this really special, incredible place, community. And it’s irreplicable. There was pressure to shoot. We were shooting for tax credits. We were shooting in Toronto. There was a lot of pressure to shoot Toronto for Flint, and I was like, ‘Absolutely not.’ I feel like you always have one hill that if you only pick one hill to die on, hopefully people well respect that specific hill. And that was it for me. It was to the point that every time we would come under on our day, I would put aside money to go back to Flint so that all of our exteriors are Flint, and our plates for the driving scenes are Flint. It was everything. And I’m sure for Claressa utmost importance.”

On what she told herself to get into the fighter’s mindset when she was on the set of this film:

“I had just a great time making the film. But it was not a chore to get out of bed in the morning. I just felt so lucky to be there. To be working with these guys, the chemistry was magnetic from day one. It was such a blessing. We obviously put a lot into get the movie back up at all. And I think I just felt so grateful every day that we actually were getting to tell this story that deserved to be out in the world. So I think that was the juice that I needed.”

On what message does she hope audiences will take away from The Fire Inside:

“No matter how badly you get knocked down the real test is like getting back up. And I do think it’s just incredibly inspiring, the level of resilience, not just inside the ring, but outside too. ”

The Fire Inside in now in theaters nationwide.

Photo Credit: Eric Charbonneau/Amazon MGM Studios via Getty Images

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity