In a quick but insightful interview with SlamWrestling.net, Kailey Farmer explained how she came to portray June Byers in Queen of the Ring, after the initial casting had scheduling conflicts. “I just happened to fit the the mold that fit the bill of what they needed. And sometimes in life, you fit,” she said.
But Farmer does much more than just “fit” in Queen of the Ring, the biopic on Mildred Burke, which comes out Friday, March 7.
Farmer, who wrestles in AEW as Kamille Brickhouse and is a former NWA Women’s World champion (nicknamed “The Burke”) stands out in even a star-laden cast. Among them, Damaris Lewis plays Babs Wingo. Wingo was the sister of Ethel Johnson (portrayed by Trinity Fatu).
Lewis spoke on the challenges that the team faced going into this project, and why hair and makeup were given a considerable amount of attention.
“We didn’t have a lot of photos of them in their daily lives, so we had to imagine that on our own. But there’s a lot that exists about women up that time, and a lot that exists about how Billy looked at these women,” Lewis said.
Lewis did shed some light on how she was able to overcome this.
“One of the biggest nuggets that I’ve gotten from an acting coach is that you begin to act when you stop acting,” Lewis explained. “So there was a really cool element for me in the fact that this was a bio bit, so it was a little bit like a cheat sheet. The fact that I had something to pull off of. I didn’t have to [start from scratch] for this one.”
“But the process of getting in and creating, I would say this version of Babs took some time, but it worked out really well.”
Farmer echoed the sentiment about having to figuratively wrestle with the hair styles while wrestling in the ring. “Wrestling with that period hair, we’re shooting for hours and hours and hours and hours. I just want to give a shout-out to the hair makeup team, because they had their hair so nice and lovely and the tight curls, and we’re in there. We’re not faking it, like we’re getting intense and real.”
Another challenge faced by Farmer in this project was the actual wrestling. But anyone who’s ever seen her wrestle knows the obstacle was not with ability. “The hardest part about it, which was harder than wrestling, like in a wrestling ring on TV, is with that one take, you’re done,” said Farmer. “As well, the scheduling. I love routine … I like that and that you just had to throw that out the door doing this because even on schedule that says, ‘Hey, we’re starting at this time.’ Well, guess what? The shoot before that might have taken way longer than expected, or something wasn’t working, and just having to go, ‘We’ll be done eventually.'”
Through the process of shooting the movie and in spite of all of the obstacles in front of her, Farmer also might have set a world record for longest wrestling match, Byers versus Burke in the finale.
“The last one that we filmed, which I’m so excited for everyone to see, took three days. So I’m gonna say the longest match I’ve ever been in is 72 hours.”
Someone call Guinness World Records.
TOP PHOTOS: Left: Kailey Farmer — AEW’s Kamille Brickhouse — as June Byers; right: Marie Avgeropoulos as Elvira Snodgrass, and Damaris Lewis as Babs Wingo.
RELATED LINKS
- Queen of the Ring book and movie archive
- Jan. 10, 2024: June Byers bio a ‘robust history of her life and career’
- Excerpt from ‘The Great and Inimitable June Byers’
KAMILLE INTERVIEWS
- Feb. 10, 2023: Kamille as dominant as ever
- Aug. 27, 2021: NWA Women’s Champion Kamille confident and Empowerred
