Ryan Destiny has always harbored an obsessive fondness for acting. Despite the spark that the craft gave to her in her youth (a childhood vivified by her recitation of television lines and avid memorization of song lyrics), with age arrived a propensity towards self-preservation. As Ryan Destiny grew, she learned to stifle herself, avoiding conflict and blending in. Ryan Destiny became okay with not having the lead. She never pushed beyond the ensemble roles she would book, and saw her potential stagnate in the face of possibility. She lived in the shadows of her own making.

“In some way, comfort meant not really being seen and I felt safe hiding,” Destiny says with a shrug. We are on a Zoom call, but even confined within a six-inch screen her demeanor is lighthearted as she recounts a version of herself she no longer identifies with. “I always had teachers very concerned. They wanted to push me and shake me into seeing my potential because they saw something I didn’t really think I did. I was just afraid of what could and couldn’t happen.”

However, as with everything that lies in the shadows, the encroaching light eventually forced Ryan Destiny to make the choice: cower, or embrace the warmth of day. In 2019, Destiny was cast as boxing Olympian Claressa “T-Rex” Shields in Amazon MGM’s The Fire Inside, and a spark was ignited. Shields, like Destiny, grew up in Michigan. She became the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in professional boxing at just 17. Playing a real person was new for Destiny, and she could sense the familiar anxieties beginning to surface after she got the initial life-changing call.

Previously, she’d played Alexandra Crane in FOX’s Star and Jillian in Freeform’s Grown-ish; both fictional characters for whom she describes her role as “putting on a mask rather than taking off.” While daunted by the challenge of playing Shields, Destiny knew this was a story she was too inspired by not to share. She immediately began training, and used her nerves as a launchpad into the light of the unknown.

“I knew what I was capable of and I just wanted to showcase a different side of myself—something that was completely different than anything I’ve done before,” Destiny shares. “I don’t think I’m the same person that I was when I didn’t have the role, and I think that’s a really great thing. I had to completely transform my mental and physical space because athletes have this incredible amount of confidence that was hard to replicate at first, but I worked hard to get there.”

She continues, beaming, “A lot of times when people ask me about the process, I tell them I didn’t think I could do it. I didn’t think I was going to get the role. I have new confidence in myself now. I see what I’m capable of and how I can push myself, and that’s made me discover a part of myself that I didn’t really know was there.”

Be that as it may, that excitement came to a screeching halt. When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, production halted for The Fire Inside, and the project was soon offloaded by Universal. Disappointed, yet determined, Destiny continued training despite the unknown that lay ahead, remaining both physically and mentally prepared for the next great adventure her future had to hold– and the training (along with the hope) served her well. In 2022, MGM picked up the film.

“I was always very appreciative of the opportunity, but I think it made it even more real and serious for me because it got taken away. It made me want to go harder. It made me want to completely dive in in a way that I don’t think I would have done on the first go-round,” Destiny explains, chuckling as she reflects on how much she’s grown since that first day of filming in 2020. “Time helped me, and it changed my perspective on how much I needed to just really strip away everything and just give it my all. I grew in those two years. I am not the same person that I was pre-pandemic. I matured a lot and it helped me execute the role.”

Every punch thrown, fight won, and early morning spent training demonstrates Destiny’s resilience. Over 10 years after her mainstream television debut in 2013’s Low Winter Sun, she was recently named one of Variety’s 2024 “10 Actors to Watch” and says that while she’s thankful, she’s “still trying to figure out how to grow from here.” Now, as she prepares for The Fire Inside’s release come Christmas day, she can’t help but think back to a previous self that was too afraid to step outside those all-engulfing shadows.

“[Star and Grown-ish] helped me grow comfortable with myself because being in a leading role is a lot on your shoulders. I felt a lot of pressure to be able to set a certain tone on set, but learning from people like Queen Latifah on Star helped me walk on the [MGM] set ready to fully jump in,” Destiny says, pausing to look out her window.

“I would really love to continue to do things with great people,” she voices. “This is the first time I’m extremely proud of something that I’ve done when it comes to film and TV, and I want to continue to feel that way. I would love it if I could continue to work with people who really care. I want to be a part of stories that are important and I want to continue shining that light. I’m letting that direct me to whatever is next.”

Just as this journey will end, Ryan Destiny prepares for another—a testament to who she has become, so shortly after exiting her comfort zone, so far from where she came from. The actor has found comfort in discomfort; she now yearns for more than she ever thought possible. The sanctuary she had built has toppled, and now she stands in its place: passionate, confident, and radiating with an untouchable ambition. Ryan Destiny is no longer hiding in the shadows. 

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Photographed by Kanya Iwana

Styled by Oliver Vaughn

Written by Mariam Bagdady

Hair: Coree Moreno at A-Frame Agency 

Makeup: Ernesto Casilas at Opus Beauty

Nails: Ginger Lopez at Opus Beauty using Apres

Flaunt Film DP: Madeline Leach

Flaunt Film: Kanya Iwana

1st Assistant: Kenny Castro

2nd Assistant: Jeremy Eric Sinclair

Digi Tech: Aron Norman

1st AC: Corey Cave

Production Assistant/Set Design: Marisa Donovan

Production Assistant: Rocky Soto 

Location: Amato Studio