Felicity Jones adopted a "Rocky-like devotion to fitness" for her role in 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'.
Felicity Jones
The 33-year-old actress has been cast as Jyn Erso in the Gareth Edwards-directed movie and has revealed she trained like Sylvester Stallone's iconic character in preparation for the film.
She said: "It involves a Rocky-like devotion to fitness and fighting. It is like training for the Olympics."
Felicity plays the lead in the movie, but she does not think her gender should be considered a big fuss.
She told the Metro newspaper: "People keep saying how amazing it is having a female lead and I just sort of feel, well, of course!
"It shouldn't be such a big deal. We are half the population."
Despite this, Felicity admitted that during her childhood, she would pretend to be a male character rather than the glamorous Princess Leia.
She said: "I was definitely Han Solo! Or Luke Skywalker. I was a tomboy. I think that's what I tapped into playing Jyn.
"I was very sporty. I used to play for the Warwickshire Junior Bears cricket team."
On the other hand, Felicity recently said it is "important" for a woman to be heading 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story', as the sci-fi genre is "traditionally dominated by men".
She said: "Jyn is a fantastic woman ... I saw her as being tough and decisive and I tried to capture that attitude and portray her as an extraordinary heroine. We rarely see a woman like this in film ...
"It's important and exciting that this genre, which is traditionally dominated by men, is now featuring a woman in a central role. I spent hours practicing for the fight scenes. I even had to learn kung fu with my own coach, and I would work for hours every day learning the moves."
Tagged in Sylvester Stallone Felicity Jones Gareth Edwards