Sydney Sweeney says she has to ‘prove’ herself as an actor and businessperson
By Lauren Del Fabbro, PA Entertainment Reporter
Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney has said she has to “prove” herself as a young woman, actor and businessperson.
The actress, 27, rose to fame after starring in the hit HBO series Euphoria, alongside Zendaya and Saltburn’s Jacob Elordi, playing the popular and troubled high-school pupil Cassie.
Sweeney has since starred in the hit HBO TV show The White Lotus, playing spoiled Olivia Mossbacher in the first series, and stars alongside Julianne Moore in the upcoming thriller Echo Valley.
Speaking to the Sunday Times, she said: “I have to prove myself as a young woman, as an actor, as a businessperson, all of it.”
In 2020 she launched her own production company, Fifty-Fifty films, which was behind the hit romantic comedy Anyone But You which she starred in alongside US actor Glen Powell.
Speaking about her role in the company, she said: “I have to be like, I want to be in the room, I want to sit in every single meeting and want to be involved in every decision, I want to be taken seriously as a producer.
“To be honest, actually, I always find that it’s the women who give me the hardest time.”
She said this happens outside the boardroom and in auditions too.
She said: “I see it all the time where they don’t think I am right for (a role) because they watched Cassie in Euphoria. Especially because Cassie was such a sexualised character, that puts a wall up for people.
“I feel like I’m constantly having to be like, no, no, I’m an actor, I’m supposed to be different characters.
“When I see a script or a character I find a little scary and it’s going to challenge me and I don’t know if I can pull it off, I’ve got to do it.”
She has also starred in the blockbuster Madame Web and the horror mystery Immaculate, in which she plays an American nun whose new home in a convent in Italy proves to be not quite what it seems.
Her fame, however, has come at a cost, and she has described the lack of privacy she now has.
She added: “A lot is gone, like privacy. Which is huge. You don’t realise how much that means until you lose it. I see all the time, ‘Oh, they sold themselves, they knew what they were signing up for’. But 18-year-old me had no idea what she was signing up for.”
She also spoke about her long-term relationship with Anyone But You co-producer and ex-fiance Jonathan Davino, 41, adding that she is now single.
She said: “I’m learning a lot about myself, spending more time with my friends. And I’m loving it.”
Sweeney received two Emmy Award nominations in 2022, one for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series for her role as Cassie in Euphoria, and the other for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for her role in The White Lotus.