When sporty Sydelle Noel first read about the role of Cherry “Junkchain” Bang ahead of the Netflix smash-hit GLOW, she instantly felt a kinship with her character. Independent and strong, Cherry caught on with audiences and makes her return with the rest of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in Season 2 of GLOW.
Muscle & Fitness caught up with Noel, who also appeared in Marvel's Black Panther and attended the University of Georgia on a track scholarship, to learn more about her approach to fitness.
Check out some of Noel's motivational posts on Twitter at @sydelle_noel and Instagram at @sydellio. GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling Season 2 premieres Friday, June 29 on Netflix.
7 Reasons Sydelle Noel Rocks the Screen in Netflix's 'GLOW'
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Erica Parise / Netflix
M&F: You have an impressive sporting background and had Olympic aspirations before an injury cut your career short. Is staying fit still a priority for you as part of your acting career?Sydelle Noel: “Absolutely. I grew up running track and I did so many sports as a kid. From track and field to softball, to volleyball and basketball. It's stuck with me-I pretty much train like I did back in college when I was running professionally, except these days I find I can do even more. It's important to me that I train hard and stay lean, especially as I really like food,” says Noel.
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Erica Parise / Netflix
When you found out that you would be playing Cherry in GLOW, did you feel an urge to get in the gym and train even harder before shooting?“I did up the ante a little bit. I always did my workouts before going on set. I feel like I have a muscle memory from my track days, so once I pick up the weights I do find it easy to add muscle. If I need more muscles (for a role) I will lift heavier weights with less reps, but If I'm trying to be leaner then I'll reduce the weights but increase the repetition. For GLOW, I lift heavier, which helps me when it comes to lifting up the other women over my shoulders,” Noel says.“When I finished filming Season 2, I went back to lifting a little lighter but I do always tend to go harder on legs because I like them to always look toned.”
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Erica Parise / Netflix
What's your go-to exercise in the gym?“Squats are my best friend! I love to do squats and lunges, and I always ramp up the weight. Without them, I don't know how I would have got through Season 2 of GLOW. There's an episode where I have to throw Brittanica (Kate Nash) over my head, and I had to re-do that take probably 20 times. If I hadn't been training as heavy as I was, I don't think I would have been able to do that,” says Noel.“That's something a lot of people don't realise. It's four months of vigorous wrestling,” she explains. “The cast really do perform the wrestling moves, and we also have to do multiple re-takes for all the different camera angles.”
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Erica Parise / Netflix
As an athlete who's trained in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, Noel has been given a lot of advice in her lifetime and could teach us a thing or two herself. But that doesn't stop her from keeping her ears open when it comes to new fitness approaches.“I'm working with a trainer right now, and he's recently taught me that because I come from a track and field background, everything I do has been related to explosive movements. As a sprinter, it's all about being explosive. He's taught me about slowing things down and being more focused during repetitions in the gym rather than working through everything so fast,” Noel says.
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Erica Parise / Netflix
You learned to wrestle with the legendary Chavo Guerrero, who's a behind-the-scenes coach on GLOW. Were you surprised at how hard pro wrestling actually is?“When you look at us on-screen and you see that we are black and blue. That's not makeup, it's not fake-that's real,” Noel says.“I found it very difficult. The very first thing we had to learn was a back bump, where you have to fall flat on your back. Most of us had never done anything like that before. I had no idea about wrestling but because of my athletic background I did find myself picking up the technique. One of my strengths is that if I see something I can repeat it so that definitely helped, but I learned that wrestling should never be called 'fake.'”
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Erica Parise / Netflix
The GLOW star knows that her body needs enough fuel to get her through intense filming sessions.“As someone who's been training for most of my life, I do know that I need a lot of protein in my diet,” says Noel.“Fortunately, we burn a lot of calories during filming. I did experiment with veganism at one time but it didn't work for me. Everyone's different, but I pretty much stick with Paleo-meat and vegetables. I do allow myself a Cinnabon from the mall as a cheat when I'm not shooting GLOW, and I find its important to have that balance. Allowing yourself the odd cheat here and there allows you to reset and keep motivated in the long run, but sometimes you need to have a lot of willpower on set around craft services so I try to stay away from the rice and potatoes.”
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Erica Parise / Netflix
Cherry is a motivator and a leader in GLOW. Off camera, Noel has a lot in common with her alter ego.“Cherry and I are pretty similar,” Noel says. “I motivate my friends physically. I take them on hikes, and they might think they're just going for a casual walk or to look at a nice lake, but I'll make us do squats or lunges. My friends have said that I've had a positive effect on their fitness or diet, which is great. There's even a lady at the gym who's 71 years old, but she was really interested in my workout routine. We tailored it for her, and now she's doing cycling and core yoga classes. She's lost 37lbs in a year. I couldn't be prouder.”
Back to introM&F: You have an impressive sporting background and had Olympic aspirations before an injury cut your career short. Is staying fit still a priority for you as part of your acting career?
Sydelle Noel: “Absolutely. I grew up running track and I did so many sports as a kid. From track and field to softball, to volleyball and basketball. It's stuck with me-I pretty much train like I did back in college when I was running professionally, except these days I find I can do even more. It's important to me that I train hard and stay lean, especially as I really like food,” says Noel.
When you found out that you would be playing Cherry in GLOW, did you feel an urge to get in the gym and train even harder before shooting?
“I did up the ante a little bit. I always did my workouts before going on set. I feel like I have a muscle memory from my track days, so once I pick up the weights I do find it easy to add muscle. If I need more muscles (for a role) I will lift heavier weights with less reps, but If I'm trying to be leaner then I'll reduce the weights but increase the repetition. For GLOW, I lift heavier, which helps me when it comes to lifting up the other women over my shoulders,” Noel says.
“When I finished filming Season 2, I went back to lifting a little lighter but I do always tend to go harder on legs because I like them to always look toned.”
What's your go-to exercise in the gym?
“Squats are my best friend! I love to do squats and lunges, and I always ramp up the weight. Without them, I don't know how I would have got through Season 2 of GLOW. There's an episode where I have to throw Brittanica (Kate Nash) over my head, and I had to re-do that take probably 20 times. If I hadn't been training as heavy as I was, I don't think I would have been able to do that,” says Noel.
“That's something a lot of people don't realise. It's four months of vigorous wrestling,” she explains. “The cast really do perform the wrestling moves, and we also have to do multiple re-takes for all the different camera angles.”
As an athlete who's trained in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, Noel has been given a lot of advice in her lifetime and could teach us a thing or two herself. But that doesn't stop her from keeping her ears open when it comes to new fitness approaches.
“I'm working with a trainer right now, and he's recently taught me that because I come from a track and field background, everything I do has been related to explosive movements. As a sprinter, it's all about being explosive. He's taught me about slowing things down and being more focused during repetitions in the gym rather than working through everything so fast,” Noel says.
You learned to wrestle with the legendary Chavo Guerrero, who's a behind-the-scenes coach on GLOW. Were you surprised at how hard pro wrestling actually is?
“When you look at us on-screen and you see that we are black and blue. That's not makeup, it's not fake-that's real,” Noel says.
“I found it very difficult. The very first thing we had to learn was a back bump, where you have to fall flat on your back. Most of us had never done anything like that before. I had no idea about wrestling but because of my athletic background I did find myself picking up the technique. One of my strengths is that if I see something I can repeat it so that definitely helped, but I learned that wrestling should never be called 'fake.'”
The GLOW star knows that her body needs enough fuel to get her through intense filming sessions.
“As someone who's been training for most of my life, I do know that I need a lot of protein in my diet,” says Noel.
“Fortunately, we burn a lot of calories during filming. I did experiment with veganism at one time but it didn't work for me. Everyone's different, but I pretty much stick with Paleo-meat and vegetables. I do allow myself a Cinnabon from the mall as a cheat when I'm not shooting GLOW, and I find its important to have that balance. Allowing yourself the odd cheat here and there allows you to reset and keep motivated in the long run, but sometimes you need to have a lot of willpower on set around craft services so I try to stay away from the rice and potatoes.”
Cherry is a motivator and a leader in GLOW. Off camera, Noel has a lot in common with her alter ego.
“Cherry and I are pretty similar,” Noel says. “I motivate my friends physically. I take them on hikes, and they might think they're just going for a casual walk or to look at a nice lake, but I'll make us do squats or lunges. My friends have said that I've had a positive effect on their fitness or diet, which is great. There's even a lady at the gym who's 71 years old, but she was really interested in my workout routine. We tailored it for her, and now she's doing cycling and core yoga classes. She's lost 37lbs in a year. I couldn't be prouder.”
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