"Venus and Serena Williams stepped into a predominantly white sport and became the best at it" - Actress Demi Singleton
Demi Singleton and Saniyya Sidney - the actresses portraying Venus and Serena Williams respectively in the upcoming biopic of their father 'King Richard - recently spoke to AMZ theatres about their work in the film.
Demi Singleton began by highlighting how the Williams sisters were two of the first black girls to step into a sport that is largely dominated by white players. Singleton further revealed that growing up both Venus and Serena experienced a lot of rejection, which she believes can be "discouraging" for girls of their age.
"They were two of the first black girls to step into a predominantly white sport and (they) not only became good at it but became the best at it," Demi Singleton said. "While going through that process to get to the top they faced a lot of adversity and heard a lot of no's. I feel like for little girls hearing 'no' that many times can be very difficult, you know, and discouraging."
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Saniyya Sidney then shed some light on Richard Williams' role in developing the 'champion mindset' of his daughters. Sidney revealed that the 79-year-old instilled courage and self-belief within the young Venus and Serena Williams through constant positive affirmations.
The regular encouragement thus helped the sisters to be "better than yesterday".
"Richard Williams always told Venus and Serena, 'You're going to be a champion', 'always have to champion mindset', 'believe in yourself'," Sidney said. "For me, you know, when you tell a child something like that it gives them motivation to go out there and be better than yesterday. That's what he did for his girls every day and those girls push so hard."
"We were star-struck" - Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton on meeting Venus and Serena Williams
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During the course of the 'King Richard' promotions, the young actresses also made an appearance on 'The Drew Barrymore Show'. Speaking about their experience portraying Venus and Serena Williams, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton admitted that they were "star-struck" at meeting the Williams sisters.
The teenagers also expressed their admiration for the kind of relationship the tennis greats have with each other.
"It was incredible, they were amazing and I think Demi and I were kind of just nervous at first," Saniyya Sidney revealed.
"But we were star-struck," Demi Singleton added.
"Also how they were just as sisters - you get to see them just as Venus and Serena but when you meet them it's great," Sidney added. "That's such a great relationship so that kind of helped us for sure."