The biopic tells the story of figure skater Harding’s rise and fall from the public eye, revealing her upbringing at the hands of an abusive mother (played by Allison Janney) and the notorious attack those who knew her carried out on rival Nancy Kerrigan.
The cast and crew have been speaking out about how she feels about the finished product, with Alison Janney telling Ellen DeGeneres: “She did [like it], I think she loved my performance a lot. I was like, ‘oh you poor thing’.
“She loved the movie, there are parts she didn’t like but mostly she was really excited about it.
“I wanted to give her a hug because back when we first heard about the story we were told she was a villain but it’s more complicated than that. People come away with a lot more compassion for her.”
In an interview with IMDb, Margot Robbie – who plays Harding – said: “She was so gracious, she was amazing about [seeing the film]. Really, really amazing.
“She was very complimentary about what we pulled off, and she was really kind about my skating even though I’m nowhere near as good as I should be. Yeah, she was great.”
Writer Steven Rogers echoed that Harding was generally supportive, but didn’t fully agree with the version of events that plays out on screen.
“She said she laughed, she said she cried, she said she loved Margot and Allison, and she said there are things she didn’t like about it,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
“But she emailed me twice to thank me.”
The film has generated plenty of awards season hype: Allison Janney won a BAFTA last night and is expected to repeat the success at the Oscars. Robbie is also nominated.
I, Tonya is out on Friday in the UK.