“The Best of Humanity”: Caitríona Balfe on Why Sports Films Inspire Us

The boxing movie formula is well-documented. The underdog embarks on a rigorous journey of physical and emotional hardships in the lead-up to a championship fight. The fighter leaves it all in the ring and, win or lose, walks away a changed person. Rocky is the best and most obvious example. If you’re looking for the next Rocky, you won’t find it in The Cut, a psychological thriller directed by Sean Ellis.

Orlando Bloom stars as the Boxer, a former champion who is forced into an early retirement due to injury. Years later, the Boxer spends most of his time dreaming about redemption. Boxer’s prayers are answered after receiving a title opportunity against the new champ.

Boxer has to lose nearly 30 pounds in a week to qualify for the fight. At first, Boxer tries to cut weight through the usual means of calorie restriction, sweat, and training. It soon becomes clear that Boxer won’t make the weight through these legal methods, so he resorts to drastic measures, thrusting him past the point of no return.

Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe stars as Caitlin, Boxer’s caring partner and trainer. As Boxer travels down this dark path, Caitlin valiantly attempts to support and comfort him. Unfortunately, Caitlin realizes that Boxer must conquer his demons alone, even if it means losing the person she loves during his darkest hour.

Ahead, Balfe speaks to how Bloom’s incredible transformation fueled her empathy on screen. Plus, Balfe discusses her leap of faith into acting and the sports movie she would love to see made.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

There’s this moving conversation you have with Orlando’s character about why he’s getting back into boxing and putting his body through this extreme weight loss. He talks about how it’s the only thing he knows. It’s something he must do, and he’s not going to quit, no matter what. I like that idea of doing something for yourself, where maybe not everyone understands why you’re doing it. I’m curious about your career. For a role or project, have you ever had a moment where you had to do something, and no matter what anyone else was saying, you stuck to it?

Caitríona Balfe: Oh, god. Good question. I mean, yeah, I think we all have those moments in our lives, right? I think when I was in my late 20s, I was living in New York, and I was doing something else. I started acting. I’d gone to theater school, and then I dropped out.

I was doing fashion for almost 10 years, and I definitely came to that point where I was like, “OK, I’m looking at 30 coming up. If I don’t try and change my life right now, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.” I moved to L.A. and started from the bottom. 

I think with Boxer, there’s a difference because he has pinned a lot of his self-esteem and happiness on a dream. Caitlin has learned to pivot and realized that you will get happiness and satisfaction from other things in life. I think Boxer has sort of been stunted in a way because he thinks this one dream is going to fix everything, but it won’t. I hope I’m not like Boxer in that way. [Laughs]

I hope we’re all not that way. I don’t want to go through that.

[Laughs] Right. I think there are moments. We can take some of the general, broad lessons but then realize there are many shades within them. 

When people ask actors how they get into certain mindsets for characters, for example, let’s say an actor has to play a villain who’s doing heinous things. That’s pretty easy for me to compartmentalize because it’s their job. It feels different for Orlando in this movie because he’s going through weight loss. He is training. It kind of blurs the line between what’s happening on set and off set. As his trainer during these scenes, how do you play off someone who’s actually going through these emotional and physical challenges? 

I mean, what he [Orlando] did was incredible. It was really amazing. We had done a lot of gym training together about a month before we started filming. Just pad work and different sessions like that. And then I think he was doing something else, and I was on another project, and I didn’t see him for about three and a half or four weeks.

Then, in the first few days of filming, I saw him, and I was shocked. I couldn’t believe how much weight he had dropped and how different he looked. He was restricting his calories so much, and he was training so much. On top of that, you’re filming 12 hours a day. He had to get his prosthetics and everything on, which were amazing. You could feel the struggle was very, very real for him.

I think it helped so much, even for me, because you just have this empathy and this worry, and you just want to take care of him. I think that really fed into where Caitlin was at. She is so worried about him.

We filmed reverse chronologically, so it really helped because at that point in the film, that is where he’s at his most desperate. She’s at her most concerned. It worked because we were all like, “Man. Are you OK? Are you going to be alright?” As the filming went on, he was like doubling up on his lunches and eating ice cream and all that kind of stuff. We’re like, “You’re fine.” [Laughs]

In this boxing movie, it wasn’t about the big fight. It all took place behind the scenes. Is there another sports movie you want to do? Maybe it’s off the beaten path.

I mean, I am such a fan of sports films. I think it shows the best of humanity when people just push themselves to extremes. I’m up for any sports film. What hasn’t been done? I don’t know … I don’t know. What hasn’t been done?

I’m always looking for another Moneyball with Brad Pitt. That’s what I want. A drama behind the scenes. 

I always think of those extreme marathon runners who do, like, seven marathons in seven days on seven continents or something. I think that’d be a good one.

The Cut is in theaters on September 5, 2025.