‘Euphoria’ Star Sydney Sweeney Is Actually the Total Opposite of Cassie
Few young stars have made an impression like Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney. Cast in a role that’s garnered endless gossip and judgment, she was recently nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Cassie — one of two nominations for Sweeney this year.
This is made all the more impressive considering Sweeney is actually the total opposite of Euphoria’s Cassie.
Sydney Sweeney as Cassie in ‘Euphoria’
On Euphoria, Cassie is a sweet, popular girl whose desperate evasion of loneliness earns her a bad reputation. She is raised in an abusive home and spends her childhood and young adulthood navigating her parents’ poor choices.
Frequently used and then abandoned by her father, Cassie harbors a deep need to feel loved. This trait leads to her frequent partying and rampant sexual activity at a young age.
Sweeney is not at all like Cassie in real life
In a recent talk with The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney broke down the glaring contrast between her and Cassie. Raised in a small town in the Pacific Northwest near Spokane, Sweeney grew up in what many would consider the lower-middle class. She says she had an idyllic, sheltered childhood.
“Unlike the hedonistic characters on Euphoria, she never went to a party, opting to study and then be on call for the inevitable 3 a. phone call from friends requesting a ride home. Her parents were strict … but she never rebelled.
To this day, her drink of choice is water, and over breakfast, she tells me she’s never even tried coffee. “If I’m celebrating, or it’s a very rare occasion, I’ll have a Shirley Temple,” the 24-year-old says.”
When Sweeney was 13, her parents gave up their home in the Washington countryside. The family moved to LA so Sweeney could pursue her dreams. “We lived in one room,” Sweeney says in the interview. “My mom and I shared a bed, and my dad and little brother shared a couch.”
However, like Euphoria’s Cassie, Sweeney watched her parents’ relationship fall apart. Blaming herself for the family’s financial hardships, Sweeney says, “I thought that if I made enough money, I’d be able to buy my parents’ house back and that I’d be able to put my parents back together.”
Sweeney has also revealed, via Elite Daily, another similarity between her and Cassie: Drug and alcohol abuse runs in Sweeney’s family (though she declines to elaborate).
Sydney Sweeney and Cassie’s public image
As a result of Cassie’s nude scenes and graphic sex scenes in Euphoria, Sweeney has been working hard to dispel a prominent public view that associates her with Cassie’s behavior.
“People forget that I’m playing a character,” Sweeney tells The Hollywood Reporter. “They think, ‘Oh, she gets naked onscreen, she’s a sex symbol,’ and I can’t get past that.’”
Sweeney has also received an Emmy nomination for her work on HBO’s The White Lotus, a role Sweeney claims seemed to surprise people. “I don’t think as many people took me seriously in ‘Euphoria’ because I took my shirt off,” the actress tells Insider.
But Sweeney will not be deterred. “I have no problems with those scenes, and I won’t stop doing them,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter, “but I wish there was an easier way to have an open conversation about what we’re assuming about actors in the industry.”
Her comments certainly allude to a sense of self that is rarely seen in young actors. But the sheer volume of the work Sweeney has done over the past year recently led her to take a much-needed break back home in the wide-open spaces of Washington.
