Kaitlyn Christian Goes Hollywood
September 26, 2017 | Women's Tennis, USC Ripsit Blog, Features
The USC women's tennis alum (pictured, middle) played a role in the recently-released film "Battle of the Sexes."
Kaitlyn Christian has lived most of her life within an hour of Hollywood, but she never imagined she'd find herself smack dab in the middle of it.
The USC women's tennis alum took "a once in a lifetime" chance to portray tennis player Kerry Melville Reid, and to serve as the body double for Emma Stone, who plays tennis legend Billie Jean King, in the recently-released film Battle of the Sexes. The film tells the true story of King's 1973 exhibition tennis match against Bobby Riggs, a watershed moment in women's sports.
After graduating from USC in 2014, Christian went on to play professionally, and stayed in touch with former USC women's tennis head coach Richard Gallien. It was he who introduced Christian to Lornie Kuhl, Riggs' real-life coach and the man in charge of finding a body double for Stone in the film. Christian's audition entailed a fitting to confirm she matched Stone's body dimensions, as well as 10 minutes on the court to see if her game could be molded to look like King's.
Accepting the role meant Christian would have to pause her professional tennis career, but she said the opportunity to be involved in a film about such an important figure in women's sports made it an easy choice.
"Billie Jean King has always been a role model," she said. "Not only because of her game style and the way she played, but also the pioneer she was for the game. I think it's a cool movie for the younger generation to see, to get young people involved in the sport and learn about the match and what exactly it entailed."
As a body double, Christian (pictured, right) worked to emulate Stone's body movements, while both of them learned to play the game like King did. Christian, Stone and the film's tennis choreographer, Vince Spadea, would spend between one and 12 hours a day practicing moves, with the occasional drop-in from King herself.
Working with King was "a highlight" of the whole experience for Christian, who said that when King wasn't teaching her how to imitate her movements, she was giving Christian advice on how to improve her own tennis game for future tournaments.
"She wanted to help me out in real life," Christian said. "That was so cool."
Christian also complimented Oscar-winning Stone, whom she described as "kind-hearted" and "patient" with a newcomer to the big screen.
In addition to working as Stone's body double, Christian portrayed Kerry Melville Reid, one of the members of the "Original 9" — the group of women who created what would become the Women's Tennis Association in 1973. She spent about four months working in both roles on the film, which came out last Friday — 40 years to the day of the match between King and Riggs.
Christian, who just took second place in doubles competition at the Abierto Tampico in Tampico, Mexico, encourages viewers young and old to check out the film.
"The biggest reason people should see it is to know and appreciate what Billie Jean did for our sport and how brave and courageous she was to stand up for something she thought was so important," Christian said. "Just to appreciate what she did for the sport, because many women would not be in the sport without her."
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The USC women's tennis alum took "a once in a lifetime" chance to portray tennis player Kerry Melville Reid, and to serve as the body double for Emma Stone, who plays tennis legend Billie Jean King, in the recently-released film Battle of the Sexes. The film tells the true story of King's 1973 exhibition tennis match against Bobby Riggs, a watershed moment in women's sports.
After graduating from USC in 2014, Christian went on to play professionally, and stayed in touch with former USC women's tennis head coach Richard Gallien. It was he who introduced Christian to Lornie Kuhl, Riggs' real-life coach and the man in charge of finding a body double for Stone in the film. Christian's audition entailed a fitting to confirm she matched Stone's body dimensions, as well as 10 minutes on the court to see if her game could be molded to look like King's.
Accepting the role meant Christian would have to pause her professional tennis career, but she said the opportunity to be involved in a film about such an important figure in women's sports made it an easy choice.
"Billie Jean King has always been a role model," she said. "Not only because of her game style and the way she played, but also the pioneer she was for the game. I think it's a cool movie for the younger generation to see, to get young people involved in the sport and learn about the match and what exactly it entailed."
As a body double, Christian (pictured, right) worked to emulate Stone's body movements, while both of them learned to play the game like King did. Christian, Stone and the film's tennis choreographer, Vince Spadea, would spend between one and 12 hours a day practicing moves, with the occasional drop-in from King herself.Working with King was "a highlight" of the whole experience for Christian, who said that when King wasn't teaching her how to imitate her movements, she was giving Christian advice on how to improve her own tennis game for future tournaments.
"She wanted to help me out in real life," Christian said. "That was so cool."
Christian also complimented Oscar-winning Stone, whom she described as "kind-hearted" and "patient" with a newcomer to the big screen.
In addition to working as Stone's body double, Christian portrayed Kerry Melville Reid, one of the members of the "Original 9" — the group of women who created what would become the Women's Tennis Association in 1973. She spent about four months working in both roles on the film, which came out last Friday — 40 years to the day of the match between King and Riggs.
Christian, who just took second place in doubles competition at the Abierto Tampico in Tampico, Mexico, encourages viewers young and old to check out the film.
"The biggest reason people should see it is to know and appreciate what Billie Jean did for our sport and how brave and courageous she was to stand up for something she thought was so important," Christian said. "Just to appreciate what she did for the sport, because many women would not be in the sport without her."
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