Exclusive: The Fire Inside interviews with Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry and director Rachel Morrison
Hitting theaters on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) is The Fire Inside, telling the story of boxer Claressa Shields as trains to box in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Directed by cinematographer turned filmmaker Rachel Morrison, making her directorial debut, the script was written by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins.
The Fire Inside is story of Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, a boxer from Flint, Michigan who trained to become the first woman in her country's history to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport.
The cast includes Ryan Destiny as Claressa, Brian Tyree Henry as her trainer Jason Crutchfield, with Oluniké Adeliyi and De'Adre Aziza.
Young Claressa Shields (Ryan Destiny) sneaks into a boxing gym, eager to spar with the boys. Local volunteer coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) quickly takes her under his wing. Claressa proves fiercely talented but soon Crutchfield must go beyond the duties of a coach to keep her on track as she starts to feel not just the pressure of winning, but also the glare of her beleaguered hometown of Flint, Michigan seeking hope in her resilience... You're quickly rooting for Claressa's ascent to the Olympics but also forced to confront the crushing disappointment when things don’t turn out. All the while, Henry keeps us in the fight with a performance that finds warmth and patience amid the frustrations.
Destiny is best known as one of the leads in Fox’s and Lee Daniels’ short-lived musical drama Star and later recurred on the upcoming third season of Freeform’s grown-ish. Her first lead role in a film came in Ty Hodges’ A Girl Like Grace, opposite Meagan Good. She also starred in the horror thriller, Oracle, produced by James Lopez and Will Packer.
Besides The Fire Inside, Henry also appeared in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Transformers One in 2024. Henry appeared in Jenkins’ Oscar-winning If Beale Street Could Talk. On March 14, he’ll be seen starring in Apple’s crime drama series Dope Thief, from executive producer Ridley Scott, opposite Wagner Moura. Other upcoming projects for the Oscar nominee include Michel Gondry’s Golden, a coming-of-age musical inspired by the childhood of Pharrell Williams, which Universal releases on May 9, the Moura-directed dramedy Last Night at the Lobster, in which he stars opposite Elisabeth Moss, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, where he voices Jefferson Davis. Henry previously
Rachel Morrison is making her feature directorial debut with The Fire Inside. She earned an Oscar nomination for “Mudbound,” marking a first for a female cinematographer. She would follow that up by being tapped as director of photography on “Black Panther” and eventually helmed the pilot for the Starz pilot “Hightown.”
Blackfilmandtv.com's Wilson Morales talks to Ryan Destiny, Brian Tyree Henry and director Rachel Morrison on The Fire Inside.
