[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Queen of the Ring.]

The Big Picture

Mildred Burke’s inspiring journey in ‘Queen of the Ring’ challenges gender norms and showcases her resilience as a female wrestler.
Emily Bett Rickards’ physical transformation and dedication to portraying Mildred authentically shine in her performance.
The film portrays the struggles and triumphs of Mildred’s career, showcasing the balance of femininity and strength.

From writer/director Ash Avildsen and based on the book by Jeff Leen, Queen of the Ring tells the incredible true story of Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards), a single mother from a small town who went on to become the first million-dollar female athlete in world history. Mildred was a woman determined to make a name for herself as a female wrestler at a time when it was illegal across most of the United States, becoming a three-time women’s world champion from the 1930s through the 1950s despite all the challenges. At the same time, her personal life was not without its challenges, especially once she meets promoter Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), with whom she falls in love, gets married, becomes aware that he’s cheating on her with several of the other female wrestlers on his roster, and decides to stay married as a business arrangement, so that she doesn’t get screwed out of her own money. Through everything, she perseveres, becoming a pioneer in the sport that she loved.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Rickards broke down all the ways she put her heart and soul into the character of Mildred Burke and her performance, which includes quite the physical transformation. She talked about diving into all the research, feeling capable that she could bring this woman to life, her process for transforming her body, finding that balance of femininity and strength, her favorite wrestling scenes to shoot, exploring the abuse in Mildred’s relationship with Billy, how letting go of Mildred at the end of filming wasn’t so easy, wanting a challenge with her work, and why creative fulfillment has always had a high bar to reach.

There Were Endless Photos of Mildred Burke for Emily Bett Rickards To Use for ‘Queen of the Ring’ Inspiration
Image via Queen of the Ring

Collider: This is such a compelling story about this incredible, strong woman overcoming all odds, and she’s a real person from history. Had you ever heard of Mildred Burke before doing this?

EMILY BETT RICKARDS: No, I did not know of Mildred Burke, born Mildred Bliss, but once I was given Jeff Leen’s book, which the script is based off of, it was my Bible, in a sense. It was really great to have that because it’s so clear, it’s entertaining to read, it has a throughline. And then, on top of that, the script was honest. It wasn’t hard to piece together. And then, there’s Wikipedia and there’s all these photos of her. There are so many wonderful photos of her because she wanted to be in front of the camera, which is a beautiful thing when you’re researching someone. A photo speaks a thousand words, and in this case, there are a million photos. You can just see her and see her evolve. And then, when you pair that with Jeff’s book, you can put the pictures where her story is.

And with someone like this, there wasn’t social media and she couldn’t hide behind filters. It’s just her and it’s real.

RICKARDS: There’s still an affinity for film. There’s an emotionality to it. You can only take 36 frames on a roll. I don’t know how many you could take on a roll back then, probably 10 or 12. And it’s expensive too. It’s expensive now to develop film. People are picking and choosing what shots they take and what moments they want to freeze in time, so there’s so much more to that moment.

How did this project come your way? Was this just an audition that came up?

RICKARDS: I received the script in my inbox. There was no audition, just a talk with (writer/director) Ash [Avildsen] and questions about whether I had wrestled. The answer was no. And how comfortable I was with physicality, which was very comfortable. I felt very capable of this woman. I’m really grateful that Ash sent me and gave me this opportunity because I wouldn’t have known who this woman was. And I had never gotten to go under such a physical transformation for a character before, one that was not only energetic, but had to have the body structure to find the energy. It has really opened up my eyes, in terms of my process and acting. It just makes me hungry for more. It’s a cycle.

Emily Bett Rickards Had a Team to Help With Her Physical Transformation in Tackling Mildred Burke

When this came your way, I’m sure you were not sitting around with such defined arms. How did you prepare for that? How did you figure out how to get the look you wanted?

RICKARDS: Well, I had a team of people. I was in Vancouver, at the time, so my friend, Tom Taylor, who’s a trainer of mine, gave me guidance and introduced me to Dr. Diego Botezelli for an exercise plan that would continue once I was away, as well as a nutrition plan. It takes a team to change your body, and dedication, for sure. Keep in mind that my dedication is not only propelled by my dream of acting and wanting to transform, but there’s also a team of people behind me. I had so much guidance and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. I wouldn’t have had any knowledge. I don’t know what I would have done. I probably would have just done bicep curls and given up. But there was a very structured plan with macros and a nutrition breakdown, which was intense protein, lower fat, and then lots of carbs. And then, there was exercise and weights every day, with slow, heavy, minimal reps and different body parts every day, six or seven days a week.

It seems like sculpting specific body parts to fit a body type is even more challenging than just physical training for a role.

RICKARDS: When you have a team with you, who encourage you and also tell you that it’s possible, you believe in yourself, but you also have other people believing in you. There’s such a lesson in that. That’s such a power of the mind, really. They were telling me that it was possible and that I could do this and that they were going to get me there. There’s a lot of gratitude that I have for that. The other thing is that, visually for camera, anyone who was on set would tell you that I had a little wagon of weights, so I would do quick pumps before every single take. I was not only working out in the morning, but I was working out throughout the day. It was a lot of work.

Was there ever a moment where you doubted that you could pull this off, or were there just too many people telling you that you could?

RICKARDS: Those insecurities pop in. I don’t know how they wouldn’t. That’s what I love therapy for. Changing the mind is a huge part of continuing to want to do what you do, no matter what it is. No matter what you wanna do, it’s gonna be difficult. Sure, there are different levels and all our bodies respond to stress differently, but if you really want something, it’s usually because it’s a little bit hard. You really do have to believe in yourself to combat stress and to get there. Community is important for that, of course, but those doubts seep in. I don’t know if it’s about blocking them out so much, or recognizing that they’re there and being like, “Oh, but I can alter this narrative.” When you’re overtired, it’s worse. Your nervous system can get burnt out.

I was lucky. My nervous system turns into a little bit of a machine, especially with Mildred. I think that was Mildred’s nervous system in me. There was just this machine aspect to it. She needed some sort of engine to get through, and I was holding onto that for a lifeline. So, when we stopped filming, there was a little bit of a collapse, in a sense, but I think actors have that, or anybody in an intense period of time. That come down, or de-loading, is something that I’m still working on and was very apparent with this particular character. I was like, “Oh, I have this. I’ve worked on this.” And then, there was the de-load. It was just a new type of being, to de-load from her and that body. So, moving forward, I’ll probably have a little bit different of an experience.

So often, people seem to have trouble reconciling the ability to be feminine and tough, and to let strength and femininity co-exist. Did this change your own perception of how those two things can really co-exist with each other?

RICKARDS: I guess my perception of those things co-existing is fairly strong. Because of people like Mildred and women like my mother, I’m privileged, in that way. I’m starting from a new foundation. Mildred was the foundation. The culture that I grew up in, the family that I grew up in, and the people and women that surround me, I am privileged, in that sense, to have that as a part of the foundation. The same could go for men and people who are non-binary, as well. We have this idea of gender and strength, and those are all constructs. You get to be who you are. The more strength that you have in being yourself, only serves the people around you. So, if that is finding femininity in a masculine body, or vice versa, that just helps all of us.

Mildred Burke is someone who has the outward strength that you can see, but she also has an inner strength that you can’t see.

RICKARDS: When we see physical strength, obviously we see muscles, but I think it’s really someone’s spine. Somebody incredibly tiny could be walking down the street and you’d be like, “Oh, that person is really strong,” because there might just be strength in their spine. They might just carry themselves with power, and not dominating power or we’re gonna take over power, but in just being. Mildred definitely had that too. Putting on her body type definitely helped me spine into that because there was a rigidness to her walking and in her being that I don’t have, and that I had to train out. That’s an interesting question, and an interesting psychology of our world.

Emily Bett Rickards Had Fun Stepping Into the Wrestling Ring for ‘Queen of the Ring’
Image via Queen of the Ring

We get such a variety of wrestling scenes in this, from the circus to smaller shows and bigger shows. She’s wrestling men before they were even any women that they could find. What was it like to shoot those scenes in the ring? Did you have one that was your favorite to shoot?

RICKARDS: I wrestle Toni Storm. She plays Clara. I think that’s my favorite match, in general. She’s incredible. All the women I got to wrestle and train with in this are. The ending match was also really fun. There was a lot of hype around that because it’s the end and the arena was really, really cool. The circus ones were super fun too. My partner came to visit for four days. He got to set after not having seen anything yet, and the next take was me flipping 10 guys in a row. He was just like, “What have you been doing for the last six months? What is happening here?” All of it was fun and all of it was an education. Everyone at OVW, who not only trained me and let me flip them incessantly and slam them to the mat, as someone who doesn’t have any training, were giving me their bodies as a gift. I don’t know how else to say it. I bow down to OVW for all of their effort.

We get a whole journey through her wrestling costumes and there’s real evolution with that.

RICKARDS: Sofija [Mesicek], our head wardrobe stylist, had a whole dream of Mildred getting to this white, sequined performance suit that was rhinestoned. With Trevor Thompson, who did makeup, and Andrea Ahl, who did hair, there was a whole team behind creating this look, going from diner gal to glamor babe, and making sure we had that evolution to show where her dream was set and where she landed.

Along with the scenes in the ring, there’s a very different kind of physicality that you had to do in this with this abusive relationship that she was in with Billy Wolfe. It was not a particularly loving relationship, and it was volatile. What was it like to figure that out? When you’re shooting scenes that could be triggering for you and could also be triggering for the audience, what are those conversations like? How do you feel safe and comfortable in shooting something like that?

RICKARDS: I was really dedicated to telling her honest story. She was a woman of a time who was setting a foundation for us women today. To come forward with abuse stories at that time, with abuse reality at that time, in her mind, would have only hurt her, her dream, her son, and her career. Not only that, but she mentions all the little girls that look up to her. As Emily, that is so painful for me to feel that hurt. I hope that in the telling of this, because I think what she honestly was doing was finding the strength to continue with all the other battles she was facing, that’s in there, and that Mildred is proud of that. I just don’t want her to live with any type of regret. I feel for her. My coach, Andrew Mcilroy, and I talk about this a lot, especially when it comes to more sensitive scenes and scenes with talons that claw at the heart and grip in where there’s something that means more than just to me or you, but there’s a global community to the scene. We always talk about honesty and contact. It’s about honesty for the character, honesty for the actor, and honesty for the story. And then, who are your main points of contact in the scene? She has contact with those little girls she talks about. She’s got her mom. That scene is not necessarily about Billy. I hope Mildred is proud of that.

You talked about how this inspired you to want to do more roles, but I would also imagine that it was inspiring for life, in general. What’s next for you? How do you figure that out once you play someone like this?

RICKARDS: I don’t know. I found the de-loading process to take longer than I expected, which is something I’ll take into whoever the next character is going to be. It’s an opportunity to get to transform like this, as an actor. I’m going to get emotional. I look back on this as the greatest role of my career, thus far, and potentially she stays at one of the highest for my life. She’s made such an impact on my life. I think every character sticks around, in a way. They become someone you have to grieve, at the end of the day, because you are systematically putting your body into a relationship with them, and this one was deep, for sure. So, I look forward to whoever the next character is, and I’ll take Mildred’s guidance into whoever that is. I don’t know who that is. It’s exciting, but I also wish I knew now. This business can be your best friend and your worst enemy, at the same time, but this art form is for me.

Mildred Burke Has Inspired Emily Bett Rickards to Seek Out More Career Challenges
Image via Queen of the Ring

Does it raise your own bar in what you’re looking for, what you want to do, how you want to express yourself, and what you’re looking for in creative fulfillment? Has that bar always been high for you, or does an experience like this raise it even more?

RICKARDS: Creative fulfillment has always been a very high bar, sometimes where it’s potentially unattainable and having to learn where the ease pairs with creativity. Letting creativity in, as opposed to just reaching for it, is my personal battle. I know other people struggle with that too, but it’s at the forefront as one of mine, for sure. Getting to dive into Mildred’s story has just made this opening, almost this abyss, of knowledge that you can step into that. I would imagine that maybe that’s not for everyone. There are a whole bunch of different types of actors. Everybody loves stories, but everybody loves different things. I’ve had a few auditions lately where I was like, “Oh, I really like this because it’s challenging. I’m not perfect for this. There is no perfect. But I’d have to figure out this timing and there’s something here I don’t quite understand.” Mildred gave me the confidence to love that again. When I was younger, I was like, “No problem. Those scary things sound awesome.” I don’t know if that’s accepting my personal creativity and accepting myself, as well. It’s a life journey. No matter what you’re doing, it’s something.

Queen of the Ring Director Ash Avildsen Cast Marie Avgeropoulos , emily bett rickards , Walton Goggins , Josh Lucas , Gavin Casalegno , Kelli Berglund , Tyler Posey , Martin Kove , Damaris Lewis , Ash Avildsen , Jim Cornette , Trinity Fatu , Toni Rossall , Cara Buono , Deborah Ann Woll , Adam Demos , Francesca Eastwood , Brittany Baker , Marie Evans James , Kailey Dawn Latimer , Chaney Morrow , Barron Boedecker , Byron Johnson II Runtime 130 minutes Producers Aimee Schoof , Anthony Mastromauro , Isen Robbins , Jim Ross , Baron Bodnar Expand

Queen of the Ring is screening at the Anchorage International Film Festival in Anchorage, Alaska on December 12 and will be in theaters in 2025. Learn more about the film at: https://www.queenofthering.movie/