Original-Cin Q&A: Malin Akerman and Bella Thorne on the 'Fight Club for women,' Chick Fight

Chick Fight is loosely touted as Fight Club with women. 

It tells the story of Anna (Malin Akerman) and her best friend, Charleen (Dulcé Sloan), who are working toward a better life. Anna is a down-on-her-luck, middle-aged woman who is in desperate need of a change. Her car has been repossessed, her house burned to the ground, and her current employment situation is in question. 

When Charleen introduces Anna to an underground, all-female fight club, the two begin to see the silver lining that exists in Anna’s life. They decide that Anna will join the fight club and hopefully win money. However, the fight club, and specifically rival Olivia (Bella Thorne), proves to be a difficult obstacle to overcome, testing every fiber of Anna’s being.

Bella Thorne and Malin Akerman get ready to rumble.

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with stars Malin Akerman and Bella Thorne about getting into fighting shape.

Chick Fight is available digitally and on demand on November 13th.

ORIGINAL-CIN:  This movie is filled with some bad-ass women! Malin, what was your initial reaction to the material? 

MALIN AKERMAN: “I loved it.  My good friend Paul Leyden who directed the film is someone I've known for many years, and he's the one who presented the script to me. He’s always so supportive of women in everything that he does. So I was really excited to read this script and there were many elements to it that spoke to me. 

Historically women are told certain things aren't ladylike and that we have to behave in a certain way. And I loved the freedom the women were given that comes with this.

“I liked the idea of a woman's underground fight club and  the sisterhood that we see where these women are holding each other up and supporting one another. I felt there were so many great messages being told.” 

O.C: You are both in fantastic shape, but Bella you really kick some butt in this movie. Getting ready for this had to have come with another level of preparation. 

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BELLA THORNE: “The prep for this was on a whole other level and I’ll tell you that I absolutely loved it. Obviously, we also had stunt doubles who helped so much especially, with the stuff that I can't do, like the flips. 

“I could flip someone else but trying to flip myself was something I just couldn’t get down.  I really did try to do as much as my body would let me do, and make it look good.  When you're a fighter who’s been fighting for years it’s a very different look than a girl who wants to fight or wants to learn how to fight.  

“I really wanted to do a fight movie and I got blessed with this  one when the script arrived one day at my doorstep in the mail.”

AKERMAN: “We did do a lot of our own fighting but as Bella said, we had the most amazing stunt doubles to get us through some rough parts.  The fight scene between me and Bella near the end of the film, we did most of it but when it came to falling on my back I left that to the pro. 

“I have to say it felt pretty empowering being in that ring.”

O.C: Even though you're all being very careful and it's choreographed, there had to be a few mishaps in that ring.

AKERMAN:  “For me it was just a couple bruises here and there and some harder slams I should have expected. But it was just par for the course. 

“Surely no major injuries, except one of our stunt girls, who was my stunt double, was doing another fight with another actress and got knocked right in her forehead and got a goose egg and a concussion. So she took some hard hits. 

“All of those stunt gals were the real deal and they're the ones getting hurt, but they're not complaining.” 

THORNE: “I was okay, but I did have some knee issues and that put a damper on a good mood. (Laughs)  

“Plus, during the shoot I also got the flu and I was the sickest I've ever been in a while, so that hindered things for me. But I pushed on. I think being that sick takes a toll on your body and your performance and it really sucked, but luckily I was still able to do a bunch of stuff and I worked through it.” 

OC: One thing that stands out in the film is finding your inner strength.  Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone which I would think for you both this film was already that. Was there ever a time in your lives that you found yourselves pushing yourselves to do something that you really didn’t want to do? 

AKERMAN: “I don't know if there's a specific moment but I grew up a very shy kid. I was bullied a lot and didn't have much of a voice. 

“I was very nervous about having a voice, and so I think to grow assertive and realize my self-worth and feel comfortable in my own skin was something that I had to work hard at. 

“It took some chutzpah and some beautiful  female mentors throughout life who really helped me discover my self-worth.  So, I think again it comes back to women supporting women. But I think it also takes a lot of strength to listen to your gut and self-belief and not listen to everyone else around you.”

THORNE:  “I feel like there have been so many things in my life that it's hard to pick one. I like to take pride in being the bitch who is never taught anything before I do something. 

“I actually learned how to read from reading scripts and from auditioning. So I think that was  one of the biggest hurdles to get over and something that scared me to death. 

“I remember having done so many projects before I did Shake It Up. And even on  Shake It Up, during the table read, my hands were sweating, I’m dyslexic, and I was a complete mess. I  remember just trying to get through it. Reading in front of people completely freaks me out. 

“I used to have to get up and try and read in front of people when I was little and I couldn't read and it's a feeling I will never forget. It gave me such anxiety, heart pounding anxiety whenever I had to talk in front of a group of people.”

“I remember one Christmas I had to read The Grinch at Universal Studios in front of about a thousand people and I almost lost it.  To this day I try to stay away from reading anything in front of a huge audience because it scared me so badly as a kid. 

“Don’t think you’ll ever see me doing live theatre!”