Whether Sydney Sweeney wants an Oscar nomination because she is a true artiste or because it will enable her to sell more jeans is immaterial—Sydney Sweeney wants an Oscar nomination. What actress in her position wouldn’t? It’s the obvious next goal for a 28-year-old who is well on her way to becoming one of her generation’s most famous stars. Christy , a biopic in theaters this weekend about Christy Salters Martin, one of the most successful female professional boxers of all time, is Sweeney’s first major bid for the academy’s attention.

Like a boxer who comes out swinging, Christy isn’t shy about its Oscar-bait status: Playing a boxer in the first place is frequently a signal that an actor has their eyes on the prize. Since the fifth Academy Awards in 1931, when a gentleman named

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