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HBO’s Euphoria blew up all of its actors that weren’t already big names. Zendaya, of course, was a major draw for a lot of fans, but as the season progressed it became obvious that a lot of the main cast had star qualities. The show’s been a hit with Gen Z and millennials, and Sydney Sweeney was a standout for many. Unlike a lot of actors her age, she went to college and didn’t choose a theatrical major. 

Sydney Sweeney outside the Balmain show during the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter on Feb. 28, 2020.
Sydney Sweeney outside the Balmain show during the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter on Feb. 28, 2020 | Hanna Lassen/Getty Images

Sydney Sweeney had a ton of major roles and she’s only 22

Sweeney had her first role in a film in 2009, with minor roles on Heroes and Criminal Minds that same year as well. However, her parents were not in the business at all, and she lived in Spokane, WA, so she really had to talk her parents into letting her audition. 

“I grew up in a town where there wasn’t any sort of entertainment industry, so acting was a fairy tale,” Sweeney told Coveteur in 2019. “They were holding auditions, so I begged my parents to let me audition by putting together a five-year business plan presentation.” 

Since then, Sweeney scored roles in The Handmaids Tale, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Everything Sucks!. Her role as Cassie in Euphoria really put her on the map, but getting those roles in major productions is no joke either. 

Sweeney chose to major in business so she wouldn’t get ‘f*cked over’ with contracts

Sweeney told Coveteur that school was important to her parents — her mom is a lawyer and her dad is in the medical field — so college was never out of the question. But she never had a desire to major in acting or theater, even as she pursued a career in showbusiness. 

In an interview with MTV News in June of 2019, Sweeney recalled an audition when she was 16 where the producer was astounded she wanted a degree in business as opposed to acting. 

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“That way, when I go to school for business, and I get a contract for 20 million dollars, I can read that contract myself and not get f*cked over,” she told the producer.  

According to Her Campus UCLA in 2018, Sweeney went to LACS and studied Entrepreneurship. 

“I love sports, or hiking, you’ll always find me outside doing something,” she told the publication. “At school, I’m actually a part of a club called The Culture Club. Its purpose is to implement student ideas to increase creativity and bonding within the culture of the school, like student spaces.”

School has always been a priority for Sweeney

By the time Sweeney talked to W Magazine in 2019, she was in her third year of college and was in the middle of completing that year online.

“Never was I allowed to miss school,” she told the outlet. “I graduated valedictorian and went to college for business. School has always been number one.”

But, of course, being a young actor with such big roles and a commitment to to school takes a toll. 

“It gets tough sometimes, but I’ve always actually enjoyed school, so I think that helps,” Sweeney told Her Campus UCLA. “I make sure I communicate with my Professors and classmates, about lectures and homework if I’m on set. I have many all-nighters getting it all done (like tonight), but education has always been [number] 1 for me, and I thank my parents for that.”

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