The story of Claressa Shields’ triumphant rise to the top is beautifully depicted in The Fire Inside and features a screen-stealing performance by up-and-coming actress Ryan Destiny. What you may not know is the film’s director, Rachel Morrison, has paved her own long road to achieve this knockout directorial debut. Offscreen Central’s Cassie Hager got the chance to chat with Rachel about the thrill of getting to see Claressa’s story brought to life on the big screen – and about her message to women trying to make their mark in a male-dominated world.

Cassie Hager: Hi Rachel, thank you so much for talking to me today. It’s so nice to meet you!
Rachel Morrison: It’s nice to meet you as well!

Cassie Hager: First of all, I just want to say congratulations on this film. I really loved it and it seems like the feedback so far has been very positive. That must feel amazing.
Rachel Morrison: Yeah, this has been a long journey, but it feels like a fairytale ending. Coming from cinematography, I’m now just as proud of the sound design as I am of the imagery. I am so excited that it has a theatrical, wide release. My hope is that we aren’t just preaching to the choir. We can reach a lot of people and help them understand what it’s like to walk a mile in Claressa’s shoes. I’m so excited to finally have this out in the world.

Cassie Hager: One of the things I really appreciate about this movie is while a lot of athlete biopics only depict the rise to the top, Claressa’s story shows that a lot of the time, it doesn’t always end there.
Rachel Morrison: That was part of what excited me about the script. It was a chance to upend the traditional sports movie because we’ve seen that already. It’s nice, because it’s the best of both worlds. The first two-thirds of the movie we have that build up and rise to the top. For me, that’s when the real heart of the movie starts. I think that’s what I love about it, that it feels more like real life. It’s more relatable and more human. You can only be so inspired by a superhero story. But to have a real-life superhero who gets knocked down and then has to get back up outside the ring…there is something more inspiring about that. In real life we don’t get to stop once we get to the top. There was so much more to explore in terms of what it is like to be a female athlete and all the hoops they have to jump through.

Cassie Hager: Since this is Claressa’s story, what did the collaboration with her look like? Did she have a lot of input?
Rachel Morrison: Barry [Jenkins] and I showed her the first draft of the script to get her blessing on some of the more sensitive material, and to get notes about anything she thought we might be missing. I would text and talk to her pretty regularly to help create a dynamic that would feel real. It was amazing to have the real-life person as your consultant. She was mostly just an ally, and we wanted to make sure that we got it right.

Cassie Hager: I want to talk about how great Ryan is in this film, but I have to mention Brian Tyree Henry because I really hope he gets his flowers for his role. Everyone is talking about how amazing Ryan is, and deservedly so. It’s such an amazing cast all around.
Rachel Morrison: Ryan was a “discovery,” so to speak, in that she has never done anything like this. She brought this level of modulation and authenticity to her audition, and I could just see it. I made her look me in the eyes and pinky swear that she was going to channel her inner method actor and gain all the muscle and really become a fighter. Initially I was looking for someone who was both athletic and an actor, but you quickly realize that the high school jocks and the high school theater kids aren’t the same. Ryan really gave her everything in this role and I think she just transforms on screen. And Brian is just a legend. He is a gift to everyone around him. He was a gift to me as a new director and to Ryan as an acting partner. He is just so good, and what was exciting to me is that he often plays these larger-than-life characters, so to see him play this grounded father figure and coach was really special.

Cassie Hager: I know you started in cinematography, and this is the first film you have ever directed. You, as a woman, are kind of breaking down barriers yourself! Any advice for women out there looking to get into a career in film?
Rachel Morrison: Some of it is what I would say to anyone, male or female: patience and persistence. It doesn’t happen overnight. For some people, maybe. But for most of us, it’s a journey. You have to enjoy the journey and not be so fixated on the destination. If you get into film, hopefully it’s because you really love what you do. To the women I would say to not be discouraged by the extra hoops or the double standards. It’s real, and I’m not going to pretend it’s not harder in a lot of respects to be female in this industry. But if you get bogged down by that, it’s going to keep you from doing the work. As they say in the film, you have to drown out all the noise and just keep your head in the game and surround yourself with good people who are going to support you and not cut you down. Don’t be discouraged by the haters.

The Fire Inside opens in theaters on December 25th.
You can find our review of the film here.