The film – an adaptation of a documentary of the same name – stars Florence Pugh as Paige, with writing and direction from Stephen Merchant. And the Norfolk-born 26-year-old retired wrestler has explained her relief that audiences are responding to her story so warmly.
Speaking to Collider, she said: “I wasn’t surprised about the reviews.
“The surprising thing is just how many people loved it.”
Indicating Merchant, she said: “I can see that he’d be nervous because he wrote and directed it.
“So I’m sitting there like, ‘I hope people like my story. I hope they’re not gonna walk out, like ‘this just isn’t that cool, this isn’t that interesting’.
“But people loved it, the ratings are so great. I Google it every day.”
Fighting With My Family has finally found its way to UK cinemas this weekend, and Paige has also spoken out about how much she endorses Pugh’s performance as her.
In a video for WWE, Pugh asked her: “Please describe how you think I did portraying you?”
“Terrible!” Paige joked.
As Pugh cackled, she clarified: “See, that’s a lie! I’m lying!”
More earnestly, she said: “To be thrown into the deep end like this, she did a great job.”
Dwayne Johnson co-stars as himself in the film, with Jack Lowden as Paige’s older brother, Nick Frost as her father and Lena Headey as her mother.
Vince Vaughn, Julia Davis and Merchant also have supporting roles.
The film currently has an impressive 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus reading: “Much like the sport it celebrates, Fighting with My Family muscles past clichés with a potent blend of energy and committed acting that should leave audiences cheering.”
Fighting With My Family is out now.