Battle of the Sexes premieres in Los Angeles

The Battle of the Sexes premiered in Los Angeles on Saturday ahead of its world-wide release on September 29. The night was a blend of Hollywood A-listers and tennis supers stars, as the likes of Emma Stone, Alan Cummings and Steve Carell mingled with Billie Jean King, CoCo Vandeweghe, Maria Sharapova and members of the Original 9.

The film is based on the 1973 match between Bobby Riggs and King, which King won to improve women's rights and equality in sports. King, played by Stone, also wrestles with coming to terms with her sexuality, with her intimate scenes with actress Andrea Riseborough playing a large role in the narrative.

"Gay kids didn't talk to gay kids in the '70s," King told Baseline. "Then you wouldn't even discuss it. It's good for younger people to understand what was going on. Because kids now would go, 'That's not a big deal.' But it was a big deal."

Spanning just over two hours, the latest tennis flick has a little bit of everything, boosted by an Oscar-winning actress at the forefront. Surpringly, Stone had never played a real, living person until now.

"This was a brand new challenge of someone that is so iconic and people know her speech patterns, and what she sounds like and what her energy is," Stone said. "So it was really a daily walking around with my headphones in listening to her voice and repeating it back. There's a 30-minute Billie Jean interview that I can quote back word for word."

The cast of top-billed stars sat down with Tennis Channel during the US Open to talk about the film that goes far beyond forehands and backhands.