Emily Bett Rickards Becomes Trailblazing Wrestler Mildred Burke in “Queen of the Ring” Trailer (Exclusive)
The cast also includes Josh Lucas, Walton Goggins, Tyler Posey, Gavin Casalegno and Francesca Eastwood
Emily Bett Rickards is a force to be reckoned with in Queen of the Ring.
The Arrow actress stars as real-life pro wrestler Mildred Burke in the upcoming sports drama, and PEOPLE has the exclusive first trailer.
Based on the true story of Burke and adapted from Jeff Leen's 2009 novel of the same name, the film is set "in a time when pro wrestling for women was illegal all over the country," per a synopsis.
Written and directed by Ash Avildsen, Queen of the Ring follows "a small-town single mother" who "embraces the danger to change culture as she dominates America's most masculine sport to become the first million-dollar female athlete in history," the synopsis adds.
Rickards, 33, tells PEOPLE, "Mildred Burke was a woman who refused to stop dreaming, even in the face of adversity. Queen of the Ring tells her incredible story — one that is timeless, but feels especially relevant today."
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A three-time women's world champion in pro wrestling, the Kansas-born Burke made her debut in the sport in 1935 and retired in 1956, living until the age of 73 in 1989.
According to her WWE biography, the athlete defeated numerous male competitors as well as female ones, such as fellow WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young and Gladys “Kill ‘Em” Gillem. Burke also helped bring women's wrestling to Japan in the 1950s, according to the WWE.
The trailer for Queen of the Ring opens with Rickards, as Burke, comforting her young son as he crawls into her bed after having a nightmare. "Only dreams that we make come true are real," she tells him. "We're gonna wish away all those bad thoughts."
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Aside from Burke's career highs and lows, the trailer also chronicles her relationship with Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), her trainer whom she married before they split in 1952.
"You will do what I say," Wolfe tells Burke at one point in the trailer, "or you will find yourself cleaning toilets in some arena after my show comes through."
Near the end of the trailer, while speaking to another woman at a seemingly highbrow event in Washington, D.C., Burke says, "I'm actually the highest-paid female athlete."
"In Washington?" the woman asks, to which Burke replies, "In history."
Queen of the Ring also stars Walton Goggins, Tyler Posey, Gavin Casalegno, Francesca Eastwood, Deborah Ann Woll, Cara Buono, Adam Demos, Martin Kove, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kelli Berglund and Damaris Lewis, plus All Elite Wrestling's Kamille and Toni Storm.
Writer-director Avildsen, 53, tells PEOPLE that Burke's story "resonated deeply" with him, "as a kid who grew up with a single mom and loved the magic of pro wrestling all my life."
"It also made me sad that I never knew about [Burke], yet she was such an influential icon for her era, nor did I know women’s wrestling used to be illegal," he continues. "I felt it was my duty to adapt this incredible book into a screenplay and set out to show the world this timeless American woman whom both the industry and culture had all but forgotten."
Adds Rickards, "Mildred Burke changed my life, and it has been an honor to bring her to the screen. I can’t wait for everyone to meet her.”
Queen of the Ring is in theaters March 7.
Read the original article on People