Sydney Sweeney Improvised this Dangerous Moment in ‘Euphoria’
Sydney Sweeny prides herself on the characters that she’s been able to create over the course of her career. While it’s true that the 24-year-old likely has an innate knack for acting, she supplements her natural talent with tons of detailed work. It would be fair to say that Sweeney doesn’t leave much to chance. This is why many fans may be surprised to know that one of her infamous moments in Euphoria was improvised.
Sydney Sweeney creates detailed books for all of her characters
To be fair, there are quite a few moments in Euphoria that are dreamed up on the spot. Sam Levinson (writer and creator of the hit HBO show) is known for flying by the seat of his pants. The director admits to yelling out dialogue to his actors and rewriting scenes on the spot. And while Sweeney has helped rethink some of Cassie’s scenes, she’s a bit more meticulous in her personal preparation process.
Sweeney has become known for creating entire books for every character that she portrays. Shortly after booking a role, she heads off to Micheals to get the materials for said books. The Players Table producer fills the book with a full account of her character’s entire life, right up until the first page of the script.
“I have 100-page journals on each of my characters,” Sweeney shared with Who What Wear. “I literally build from the hospital, from the day they’re born.” But even with all of this precise work, the Washington native still leaves room for surprise. A great example of this comes in the Euphoria Season 2 premiere.
Which dangerous ‘Euphoria’ moment did the actor improvise?
Fans of Euphoria will likely recall Nate giving Cassie a ride in the first episode of the sophomore season. The football player begins driving dangerously. At first, Cassie seems horrified by Nate increasing the speed of the vehicle to perilous levels. However, she eventually embraces the recklessness and puts her body out the window. But hanging out the window was actually something that Sweeney did on the fly.
“The hanging out the window, actually, was just me hanging out the window,” Sweeney shared with The Awardist Podcast. “It was just random and very in the moment.” Some fans may assume that Sweeney’s character books may make it harder for her to improvise. But Sweeney revealed that it’s just the opposite. All of her work actually helps her act organically in the scene as her character.
Sweeney’s character books allow her to live in the scene with authenticity
“The reason we sit a certain way or we look at a person a certain way, it all comes from some memory from our past that we may not be able to put our finger on,” Sweeney told Who What Wear. “But it’s what made us who we are today, I build all of these things in this character, and it makes it so that I don’t even have to truly think about how [my character] is going to react. How [my character] is going to speak? It allows me to become this character without having to think about the scene, and I can just live in it.”
