Here's how the Fighting With My Family cast compares to the real family of WWE superstar Paige. Rocky has, rightfully, come to be seen as the defining underdog movie, and has provided the template for a lot of the sports movie that followed, from The Karate Kid to The Mighty Ducks and The Fighter. Rocky also looms large with 2019 drama Fighting With My Family, which details the origin story of Paige and her relationship with her family.
The movie is actually based on the 2012 Channel 4 documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family, which Dwayne Johnson happened to see one night while in the UK filming Fast & Furious 6. Johnson would eventually become a co-producer on the film and plays himself, but while it depicts Paige and her brother Zak meeting the wrestler once during a SmackDown taping, this was invented for the movie. The film was also directed by Stephen Merchant, co-creator of the UK version of The Office, in addition to acting in films like Logan and Jojo Rabbit.
Fighting With My Family invented or condensed certain elements of Paige's story for dramatic purposes, but the film is still quite accurate to her wrestling journey and relationship with her family. Paige's real name is Saraya-Jade Bevis, and her parents Ricky Knight and Julia Knight - AKA Sweet Saraya - are co-founders of the UK's World Association of Wrestling. In Fighting With My Family Ricky is played by Nick Frost while Julia is portrayed by Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones); the real Ricky wanted Ray Winstone for the part but admitted Frost did a great job.
Fighting With My Family provided actress Florence Pugh with her breakthrough role as Paige, which she would soon follow with Midsommar and a lead role in the forthcoming Black Widow. Paige's brother Zak Zodiac is played by Jack Lowden, with the film depicting Zac's real feelings of jealousy when Paige was selected following WWE tryouts and he wasn't. The movie depicts Zak teaching a blind teenager how to wrestle, which is completely true; the real Zak also makes a quick cameo in the film.
James Burrows (Happy Valley) also plays Roy Knight in Fighting With My Family, Paige and Zak's half-brother who is also a wrestler. The entire clan was said to be happy with Fighting With My Family, with Paige admitting it made her cry. The film was a solid hit too, earning over four times its budget and receiving great reviews.