EXCLUSIVE: Claressa Shields Chats Her Story Coming 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.

We got the chance to hear from the woman who the story is based on, Olympic-Gold Medaist Claressa Shields. During her chat, she talked her reaction to her story coming to life, how much involvement she had with the developement of the movie, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

On what her reaction was when she learned her story was going to be portrayed in this film?

“Well, somebody reached out to me two months before the second Olympics. So I hadn’t even went to the second Olympics yet. And they were like, we want to do a movie about your life. And we watched T-Rex and we’re huge fans. And I was like, okay. And I was like, well, which part of my life are you guys gonna do because my life isn’t over yet? And then, you know, like the price goes up after I win the gold medal again. We got some negotiating to do. We negotiated for about a year. I had won the Olympics. The second time.

They had a lawyer named David Fox who I would go back and forth with, back and forth with and getting the numbers right and getting all this other stuff. I mean, I was on Google like, what are movie deals supposed to look like? And ’cause I had no idea. I’m a boxer.

I had just started getting endorsements and sponsorships. So dealing with that was like, I was new to it. I just remember that. And I was just asking them, so where are you guys gonna start in my life? Where are you guys going to finish in the movie about my life? Because I had the documentary T-Rex. Which went from ages maybe 16 to 20. It was a hour and 30 minute long movie. But of course, they followed me for years. And I just was like, people left the documentary T-Rex thinking that I won a gold medal and that was it. No endorsements, no sponsorships, still live in Flint. Still living in poverty. And I just was like, well, now with the movie that’s gonna be worldwide, I’m like, I need it to where people understand like, don’t leave out any of the bad stuff. Put it all in there.

But just know, this isn’t a sad story. This is a very resilient story. I feel like this is a very fateful and a hopeful story. I don’t want nobody feeling sorry for me because I don’t feel sorry for myself. But I want them to know, I went through this, I went through that. Almost quit here. Almost gave up there. But look at where I am now. And being 29 years old. I mean, we know about two Olympic gold medals with 15-time world champion. I’m still active, still undefeated. Greatest woman of all time. I need people to understand that you guys may not have knew back then, but don’t miss out now. This is how powerful the story was because everybody doesn’t get a biopic. We’re talking about like, you know, Muhammad Ali type stuff.”

On what her involvement was in the development of the movie:

“Listen, I would tell you I had 10 percent, maybe 15 percent involvement. And when I say that, everybody did their own job. My job, I was still fighting, still active, so I didn’t have time. Me and Ryan would be passing each other. Whenever I was coming to Flint, she was leaving Flint. It’s like, we didn’t meet each other till the movie was over. In person, we didn’t meet each other till the movie was over on her birthday. I had just seen the movie the day before.

So, I said that to say that the 10 percent that I had involved was Barry Jenkins reached out to me. Me and him had a meeting. We talked for four or five hours about what he thought my life was. And then I spoke to him about what my life was so we can get everything right. And then he was like, okay, I got it. Then two weeks later, he sent the script. I read the script. He told me, if there’s anything you don’t like, anything you want taken out, blah, blah, blah, let me know. And I said, I will. So I read the script, I said, oh, well, it was a great script. It just was maybe one or two things I was like, mm-mm. Can’t go. And he was very respectful of that. He said, I completely understand.”

On if she helped Ryan Destiny prepare to play her:

“The only thing I did for Ryan, I didn’t come to the gym and train with her. I answered a few questions. About a few relationships in the movie. And one day she called me, she said, okay, I’ve been training so hard, you know, to play you. It’s extremely difficult. She said, I’m sore. She said, I’m sore. My bones hurt. You know, what do you do when you’re sore and you’re tired and you can’t move? I said, you rest. And she was like, what? I was like, yeah, go get a massage, girl. Go ice bath and hot bath and Jacuzzi and steam room. I said, rest. I said, recovery. She like, oh, I’m so glad you said that. And that is the only thing I did. It is the only thing I did.

On if she worked with Director Rachel Morrison on the movie:

“I think I spoke to Rachel more than I spoke to Ryan. Rachel kept me in the loop about everything. This happened. COVID happened. COVID over. We’re back shooting. Oh, it’s not Ice Cube no anymore. It’s Brian Tyree [Henry]. Like Rachel was hitting me with everything. It’s not coming out on August. It’s coming on Christmas. And then she said, Christmas day, I said, Christmas day? Me not being a person in the movies, I was like, who’s gonna go see a movie at Christmas? And she was like, Claressa, come on. So I was learning too. Then I was like, this is perfect for somebody who believes in Jesus. Thank God I believe in Jesus ’cause this is the ultimate like blessing. To share the day with him in this movie, to bless the world. So that was it. I didn’t have much involvement. These guys are great.”

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

“Super-important. The mayor of Flint called me Flint’s favorite daughter. All the kids and the people around, they all have a lot of respect for me. So, to see some of the streets in the movie, to see where I actually ran at, to see us in Flint, I think people are just like, ‘Wow, this is the street that people still live on right now.’ You know, ‘We used to see her running down the street.’ I mean, it was twice where Ryan was running in Flint with the cameras recording her. People calling me like, “Ay, you in Flint?” For my documentary, I used to run down the block, and I used to have cameras following me. So, I’m like, ‘No, you guys, that’s Ryan.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we see it. Yeah, she’s playing.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s not me. I’m in Atlanta.’ You know, so, I knew that that part right there made me feel good ’cause I was like, shoot, she’s running like me?

On what she can’t wait for people to see come to life in the film:

“Can’t wait to see the boxing part of this. But it was very special, and it hits people emotions who are from Flint when they see certain scenes. When they see certain streets that she’s running on, passing certain houses. They’re like, ‘Wow, she really represented for the city in the movie.’ It represented for the city too. And, you know, everybody know me. Flint Town.”

On what she hopes audiences will take away from being able to see this relationship between Claressa and Jason that may be so different from what has been seen in other films about boxing:

“I wanted to show that it takes a village to raise a champion. To raise a child. It takes more than one. But, I hope that they see it only takes one person to believe in somebody. I walk around now and I have this big bravado and everybody like, ‘Man, she’s so confident,’ and people take it as arrogant sometime, and they’re like, ‘Where does that come from?’ And before I believed in myself, Jason Crutchfield believed in me. I was 14 years old. We watched this girl, named Mary Spencer, fight. She was a three-time world champion. Like, she won the world’s. To win the world’s is very, very hard. It’s 70 other countries there. You got to fight five days in a row. And Mary Spencer did this three times. We watched her fight when I was 14 years old up in Canada. And I was like, ‘Man, she’s good.’ And Jason looked at me and said, ‘You’d beat her with one hand right now.’ I said, ‘Coach, stop.’ Literally, like, ‘Stop.’ He said, ‘Ressa, in a couple years, you gonna be fighting and you gonna beat her easy.’ And I was like, ‘All right, whatever.’ I weighed 141 pounds. She fought at 152. And she was ranked number one in the world. And he said that to me.

On what it means to see this cast channel her fighter’s mindset:

“I have accepted that I’m a different type of woman and person a long, long time ago. I’ve told myself to embrace that. So when I hear them say the positive things about who I have, you know, channeled myself to be, and they understand that it’s not that I’m arrogant, it’s not that I’m cocky, it’s that I just truly believe in myself, it makes them believe in themselves.

You know, and I feel good hearing that, to know that I can add to someone else life in that way. Not just in boxing, but just in their own life. I was never on set. But when I watched the movie, I just cried. I’m like, what is going on? I can’t wear makeup to the premiere because I mess it up. Then when I leave, I’m like, I need to go to the gym. I need to get back to my eating right. I need to go back and I need to go run. I need to go punch a bag. Coach. Two in the clock in the morning, let’s go. I feel so, what’s the word you use? Rejuvenated. Because I’m like, it’s giving me power. You would think that seeing it, seeing your life on screen, and it’s still going, you would think, maybe the first time I seen it, it was triggering, and it made me think about my trauma that I went through in life. But then when you get to the end part, it was like, ‘Eh, you still won.’ And not just won in the ring, but you won in life, and you’re still winning in life.

You know, people, celebrities, all of us try to put what we went through in the back of our head and only show the great things. The good stuff. And I was happy that I embraced them showing the bad stuff. Everything wasn’t peaches and cream to get where I am. It was hard. People who think that life supposed to be easy is, that’s the problem. They think that you go through any hardship, oh, I should just quit, I should just give up. That’s weak. You’re gonna go through safe. And just like Jason said, it’s all about how you get up. I always pride myself on just getting back up. It’s times now where I’m like, oh, I’m down. And then all of a sudden, the next thing, I’m like, okay, it’s time to get back up. And I think that everyone is gonna feel that when they watch the movie.”

On what she hopes fans take away from the story:

“I want them to take away, just like everyone else said, you know, to get back up and everything. Don’t give up. To never quit. But also too, we got to stop as a world with this whole not believing in ourselves thing. We got to stop with this, ‘Oh, don’t give yourself too much credit.’ Or people tell me, I’ve heard a few haters said, you know, ‘Oh, the higher the climb, the higher the fall.’ You know, like the longer the fall. Whoever said you got to fall? Whoever said that falling is just that bad? People think that just because something happens, it’s like, no, you may fall a little bit. But you can still work yourself back up. I want people to know that just don’t be afraid of how great you can be just because you’re scared of how long the fall is at the bottom. You don’t know if you’re ever gonna hit the bottom. You don’t know that. And if you work very hard, it may never happen. We got Floyd Mayweather. Never lost. We got Muhammad Ali. Took his licks and his bruises and his losses but still is the greatest of all time.

We have people in the world like that because they never think like that. And I think that you give yourself more power when you just believe and just doing your best, putting your best foot forward, and going out like a champion. It doesn’t have to be just in boxing, but just in life. You know, Ryan [Destiny], take the hard roads. And do your best. Don’t worry about the outside judging because you’re only going to get better. This isn’t gonna be your best film. You’re gonna do way more, bigger films. But this is the beginning, this is the highlight. Same thing for you, Brian. Even Rachel. Like, this is the highest right now. It gets better. And I want people to believe that and to embrace this. But whatever your mind is of how big you want to be, reach for the stars and paths up there and just get what you want. But it all starts with you believing you. And that’s what I want them to take from the fire inside, because I ain’t done yet.”

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