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Sydney Sweeney seems to be everywhere as of late. In the past couple of years, she’s given memorable performances of teenage girls. In Euphoria, she portrays the love-obsessed and oversexualized Cassie Howard. Meanwhile, in The White Lotus Season 1, she embodied the biting yet deadpan college sophomore, Olivia Mossbacher. Both performances earned Sweeney Emmy nominations.

Sydney Sweeney 25 years old poses in a black dress and metallic breast plate
Sydney Sweeney | David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Image

But Sweeney isn’t limiting herself to the small screen. She’s also starred in her fair share of movies. In 2019, she worked with Quentin Tarantino, after earning a small role in the Once Upon a Time….in Hollywood cast. Earlier this year, she entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe by starring alongside Dakota Johnson in the upcoming Madame Web. And Sweeney has a number of projects in the works, including a reboot of Barbarella, which she will also produce.

The actor has been working toward an acting career since her early teenage years

To those who became familiar with Sweeney in recent years, it may seem like she’s an overnight celebrity. However, that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth. She first started her professional career in her preteen years, and her road to success has been a long one. Because Sweeney comes from a small town far removed from Hollywood, her dreams of becoming a famous actor were considered pretty unorthodox.

“I’m from Spokane, Washington,” Sweeney shared with tmrw magazine. “No one around me had really done anything like this. It was very foreign to my family, my friends, my school – it was hard.” But despite it being hard, the MMA fighter kept pushing through. Even when she was terribly bullied for her choices, she continued to fight for her dreams. And after years of rejections and disappointments, she finally started making strides.

Sweeney debunks claims that she’s an overnight celebrity

2018 was a huge year for Sweeney. She managed to nab roles in shows airing on three of the top streaming companies. On Netflix, she was a series regular in the ’90s-themed comedy-drama, Everything Sucks! Meanwhile, on Hulu, she portrayed pious child-bride, Eden in the critically acclaimed, The Handmaid’s Tale. And on HBO, she starred opposite Amy Adams in Sharp Objects.

“It just all happened all at once,” Sweeney shared of the traction she’s had since 2018. “I mean, I’ve been doing this since I was like 13, and nobody cared who I was…But people say, ‘She came overnight,’ and it’s like, guys, I’ve been here for 10 years! It’s been a lot of hard work, and I’ll never stop trying to work harder.”

Acting isn’t enough to cover Sweeney’s bills

Given how many projects Sweeney has in the pipeline, it’s clear she’s staying true to her promise to keep working hard. Her production company Fifty-Fifty Films, is also helping her have agency over the roles she gets and what kind of stories she tells. But even though Sweeney has been working nonstop since 2018, she still can’t rest on her laurels.

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Earlier this year, Sweeney got candid about her finances being tight despite constantly booking roles. According to Sweeney, she’s had to take deals with brands like Laneige, Miu Miu, Armani, and Sol By Jergens in order to pay her bills. And while she recently dropped a pretty penny to buy her first home, Sweeney insists that she has to keep working to afford to stay there. Clearly, Sweeney wants fans to know that her road to success hasn’t been a cakewalk. It’ll be interesting to see the trajectory of her career in the years to come.

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