Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Fall TV
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com Entertainment Weekly EW.com Entertainment Weekly
  • Explore

    Explore

    • Here are all 70 puppies competing in Puppy Bowl XVII

      Read More Next
    • The best books to keep you warm this January

      Read More Next
    • The Masked Dancer revealed: Every unmasked celebrity on season 1

      Read More Next
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • TV Recaps
    • Fall TV
    • Animated
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Mystery
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Awards

    Awards

    See All Awards
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Order Past Issues this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Movies Chevron Right
  3. From Tonya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan, See How Well I, Tonya Recreates Real-Life Figures

From Tonya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan, See How Well I, Tonya Recreates Real-Life Figures

By Joey Nolfi
November 02, 2017 at 04:52 PM EDT
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet

1 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Inside Tonya Harding's big screen rise and fall

Credit: NEON; David Madison/Getty Images

Craig Gillespie's rollicking retelling of infamous figure skater Tonya Harding's rise and fall might take several dramatic liberties (peep the new trailer for a bloody-faced Margot Robbie mugging for the camera in one shot while brandishing a shotgun in pursuit of Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, in another), but, at its core, I, Tonya is a film rooted in the rich, real-life story of a deeply troubled athlete fighting for her place in the world. Ahead, see how closely the film's characters resemble their living, breathing counterparts.

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Harding's rise to stardom

Credit: Neon; David Madison/Getty Images

Before she became persona non grata on the professional ice skating circuit, Harding earned her reputation through a series of strong showings on the international scene, placing first at Skate America in 1990 and 1992, and second at the 1991 World Championships.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

LaVona Golden (Allison Janney)

Credit: Neon; Steve Slocum/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Avian affections and all, I, Tonya's most colorful character comes in the form of Harding's abusive, foul-mouthed, booze-guzzling mother, LaVona Golden, whose penchant for fine fur and feathered friends comes to life with wicked conviction from a fearless Allison Janney.

3 of 10

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Credit: Neon; Focus on Sport/Getty Images

Widely considered her banner year as a professional skater, Harding landed a triple Axel in 1991 at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, becoming the first American woman to complete the difficult maneuver in the history of the competition.

4 of 10

Advertisement

5 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan)

Credit: Neon; CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images

Before the conspiracy to thwart Kerrigan's Olympic bid, Gillooly and Harding's relationship was fraught with alleged abuse. They married when Harding was 19 and divorced three years later. She went on to accuse Gillooly of physically assaulting her throughout their union.

5 of 10

6 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Nancy Kerrigan incident

Credit: NEON; CBSN

Paper Towns actress Caitlin Carver plays a small role as Nancy Kerrigan in the film, a performance that peaks during a thrilling recreation of the well-documented knee-clubbing scandal (perpetrated by associates of Harding) that rocked the sports world — and nearly ruined Kerrigan's shot at competing in Lillehammer.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser)

Credit: NEON; CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images

Gillooly and Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eckhardt, hired an assailant to carry out the attack on Kerrigan during one of her practice sessions ahead of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. Eckhardt would later serve jail time for the act before being released in Sept. 1995. In a televised interview with Diane Sawyer, Eckhardt claimed Gillooly approached him, initially wanting to "take [Kerrigan] out," but Eckhardt ultimately suggested an appropriate alternative to killing her would be striking her "landing leg" (used for sticking on-ice maneuvers) with a blunt object. Eckhardt died in 2007.

7 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

1994 Winter Olympics 

Credit: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Despite growing opposition to her place in the competition, Harding retained her spot on the U.S. team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, competing in the wake of the infamous Nancy Kerrigan incident. She began her set with a broken lace, and begged the judges to give her a second chance, which they granted. She ultimately finished in eighth place, while Kerrigan scored a silver medal.

8 of 10

Advertisement

9 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Harding in the press

Credit: Neon; JOHN GRESS/AP/REX/Shutterstock

While the press covered her ascension through the figure skating ranks, they also savaged her downfall on the other side of the Kerrigan incident.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 10

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Harding today

Credit: NEON; Bobby Bank/WireImage

Gillespie frames the film as a recollection of memories told through the reflective gaze of an aged, domesticated Harding as she gives an interview from a ramshackle kitchen inside her suburban home, years after she faded from the national spotlight. Robbie's performance in these moments suggests a hardened woman worn thin by a brief — but nonetheless exhaustive — time under media scrutiny, not unlike the woman whose life inspired the project.

10 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

  • By Joey Nolfi @joeynolfi

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 10 Inside Tonya Harding's big screen rise and fall
2 of 10 Harding's rise to stardom
3 of 10 LaVona Golden (Allison Janney)
4 of 10 1991 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
5 of 10 Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan)
6 of 10 Nancy Kerrigan incident
7 of 10 Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser)
8 of 10 1994 Winter Olympics 
9 of 10 Harding in the press
10 of 10 Harding today

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
EW.com Entertainment Weekly

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
© Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

View image

From Tonya Harding to Nancy Kerrigan, See How Well I, Tonya Recreates Real-Life Figures
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.