Watch Steve Carell and Emma Stone in the first ‘Battle of the Sexes’ trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ykcuAS1F4

The first trailer for Battle of the Sexes is here, and Acton native Steve Carell appears fully committed in the role of ex-tennis-champ-turned-chauvinist-showman Bobby Riggs.

Battle of the Sexes chronicles the events surrounding the highly publicized 1973 tennis match between top women’s player Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Riggs (Carell), who, at the age of 55, declared that he could beat any of the best women’s players in the sport.

The trailer, released by Fox Searchlight on Tuesday, highlights how Riggs played up his sexist persona in order to drum up interest, treating his matches against King and, before that, women’s champ Margaret Court as business opportunities.

“Bobby’s a clown,” Stone’s character says, as the trailer cuts to footage of Carell running around a tennis court in a Little Bo Peep outfit, surrounded by sheep. “This whole thing is an act for him.”

Battle of the Sexes is set to hit theaters Sept. 22.